Gundam Wing: 00 Destiny
by beer-man
Summary: Not real good with summaries. Triple cross over that involves Heero being sent to the Cosmic Era then later to the 00 universe. Enjoy. Story is inspired and endorsed by the stories of Wilikins75! Please Read and Review! On Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mobile Suit Gundam or any other thing associated with the trademark or the greatest anime company Sunrise.**

**This story was inspired and endorsed by Wilkins75.  
**

_Italics=thoughts_

**Chapter 1: Another Universe?**

**AC 195**

'We have to stop it Zero' said Heero Yuy as flew the Gundam Wing Zero towards the piece of Libra that was falling towards the Earth.

Zero flashed its eyes as Heero punched the engines to overdrive as he managed to get Wing Zero in front of the falling object. Heero then spun Wing Zero around and aimed the Twin-Buster Rifle. Wing Zero was falling backwards through the atmosphere with Libra coming after it and Heero used all his might to try and lock onto the battleship as he charged the rifle to full power. The cockpit started to heat up like a furnace from the atmospheric temperature and sparks were flying from the electrical surge of Wing Zero being pushed to its limits.

'I will, I will, I WILL SURVIVE!' cried Heero as Wing Zero locked onto Libra and Heero fired the Twin-Buster Rifle.

Heero's shot was accurate and the beam hit Libra and blew it into a million pieces of debri that looked like a meteor shower to the people on Earth.

'Mission complete' said Heero as he rested back into his seat and closed his eyes.

Suddenly the back blast from the explosion hit Wing Zero and sent it on a spiral.

'What the…?' said Heero as he was bounced around in his seat before hitting his hard and falling unconscious.

**CE 73**

It felt like hours had passed when Heero regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings.

'Where am I?' asked the confused pilot as he looked at his radar.

'None of the other pilots seem to be around' he said as he tried his radio. 'Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Peace Million. Damn! No answer. What do you think we should do Zero?'

Just then his alarm went off and multiple objects appeared on radar. Heero turned Wing Zero to the left and saw a massive object falling towards Earth with what looked like mobile suit thrusters and a couple battleships flying around it.

'If that thing hits the Earth it's finished. Let's go Zero' said Heero as he turned Wing Zero into Neo-Bird mode and put boosters to max as he flew towards the large object.

As Heero got nearer he could see that the object looked like an asteroid but it had ruined buildings on its surface. 'Must be a colony' said Heero as he was almost at his target.

Onboard one of the battleships the radar monitor went off as Heero and Wing Zero got near the falling colony.

'Captain!' said the red haired girl manning the radar.

'What is it Meyrin?' asked the women sitting in the middle of the bridge.

'Unknown object moving towards us with incredible speed. Mach 10 on the radar'.

'Nothing but a missile can move that fast' said a man in a black uniform sitting at the front of the room.

'Quiet Arthur,' said the Captain. 'Can you bring up a visual?'

'Yes captain' replied Meyrin as she brought up video feed of the blue and white jet like object flying towards the falling colony.

'Is it here to stop Junius Seven?' pondered the captain to herself. 'Try and reach it on all channels Meyrin.'

'Yes captain,' said Meyrin as she tried to reach Heero. 'No luck captain, too much interference'.

'Can't help that. Captain Gladys, mark it as unknown and non hostile until we know its intentions. If it attacks inform the pilots to destroy it' said a man with long black hair and white robes that was sitting on the raised part of the bridge.

'Yes Chairman' replied Captain Gladys.

'We're here' said Heero as he neared the falling remains of Junius Seven. 'Time to destroy it.'

Heero then hit the controls to turn Wing Zero back into mobile suit mode. Once the transformation was complete Zero flashed its emerald green eyes and Heero flew in front of the falling colony just like he did with Libra.

'What?' asked Gladys as she watched the jet turn into a mobile suit. 'It's a mobile suit?'

While this was happening, the mobile suits that were fighting on the remains of Junius Seven looked to see Heero fly in front of the wreckage.

'What does that idiot think he is doing?' asked a black haired, red eyed boy that was piloting one of the mobile suits as he watched in shock at Heero's stunt. 'He'll get himself killed.'

'It's showing up at unknown on the radar' said a blonde haired boy piloting a white mobile suit. 'Captain, an unknown mobile suit has just flown in front of Junius Seven.'

'We know Rey. Treat him as friendly for the time being'

'Yes Captain'.

Just then the door to the bridge opened and a girl with blonde hair and dressed in a maroon suit walked in.

'Representative Atha?' asked the Chairman.

'Um, where's Athrun?' asked the Girl.

'He didn't tell you. He offered us his help and is out there helping break up Junius Seven.'

Suddenly a bright explosion ripped a chunk out of Junius Seven.

'What was that?' asked Captain Gladys.

'Mam, looks like the unknown mobile suit just fired some sort of high powered beam weapon and destroyed part of Junius Seven' said one of the controllers.

'That machine must be incredibly powerful to do that and that weapon must have the power of the Tannhauser' said the Captain.

Meanwhile, below Junius Seven, Heero was manoeuvring around getting the best angle of shot he could.

'This is worse then Libra, Zero' said Heero. 'It'll take multiple shots to destroy the whole thing. I don't know if when can get it all.

Heero then fired another shot and blew another chunk away. 'You're right Zero, we'll destroy as much as we can before we hit the atmosphere.'

'Captain, another piece of Junius Seven has been destroyed.'

'This mobile suit may be able to stop it' said Arthur.

Suddenly an alarm went of.

'What is it?' asked the Chairman.

'Looks like we are entering the Earth's atmosphere,' answered the Captain. 'Chairman, please transfer to the Voultaire. The Minerva will fire the positron cannon as long as we can before we break through the atmosphere. Please have all out mobile suits return at once.'

'Yes Captain' said Meyrin as she sent a return message to the four Minerva pilots on Junius Seven.

'Very well,' said the Chairman. 'Representative Atha?'

'I'm staying here until Athrun returns.'

'As you please' replied the Chairman as he made his way from the bridge.

On Junius Seven the four pilots were making their way back to the Minerva when the pilot of a blue mobile suit with red wings noticed that the green mobile suit was still trying to sink the destruction drill into Junius Seven.

'Didn't you get the order to return?' asked the red eyed pilot.

'I did,' replied a boy with bluey black hair and green eyes. 'But Junius Seven still hasn't broken up enough to not do any damage to the Earth.'

'You gotta be the hero don't you?' said the red eyed pilot as he helped the green eyed pilot lower the drill into the colony.

Just then another bright explosion appeared near the two mobile suits as more of Junius Seven was destroyed, and from where the explosion happened a blue mobile suit with wings, a red shield and rifle appeared.

'Get a move on you two, we've almost hit the atmosphere,' said Heero in his monotone voice.

'Who are you?' asked the red eyed pilot.

'Never mind that, just hurry up with whatever you're doing, I'll take care of the enemy,' replied Heero as he placed the buster rifle in his left hand and pulled out his beam sabre.

'What enemy?' asked the green eyed pilot as he got his answer when a rifle beam hit where the drill was in the ground.

Heero then charged forward and sliced two mobile suits in half as he turned towards the third that was heading towards the drill.

'My daughter's tombstone must fall. It's the only was those naturals will pay. Patrick Zala was right all along. The only path for coordinators was the one he'd chosen' said the Terrorist.

He was almost at the drill when Heero sliced him in half.

'_Naturals?_ _Coordinators?_' thought Heero to himself as he watched the mobile suit explode.

The explosion caused the drill to kick into gear as it smashed through the ground and split what was left of Junius Seven in half.

'We did it' said the red eyed pilot.

'I'm not so sure,' said Heero as he watched half of what was left continue to fall to the Earth. 'You two get back to you ship, I'll destroy the rest.'

'You're mad' said the green eyed pilot.

'Maybe, but I'm the only one who can do it.'

Just then the Minerva appeared and started firing the Tannhauser at the remains. The explosion caused the three pilots to fall into the atmosphere. Heero managed to regain control of Wing Zero and flew it underneath the falling colony. He then aimed the Twin-Buster Rifle as he repeated what happened during the fall of Libra. On top the Minerva aimed the Tannhauser and fired that same time as Wing Zero. The explosion caused the rest of Junius Seven to explode into chunks.

'We can't do anymore then that,' said Captain Gladys. 'Meyrin have you located Shinn and Athrun yet?'

'Yes Mam, they have fallen into the atmosphere. It looks like Athrun's ZAKU is damaged!'

'What?' cried the blonde girl in the maroon suit.

'Try and get as close as you can,' ordered Gladys as the Minerva's pilot manoeuvred the ship towards its two falling mobile suits.

Heero sat in Wing Zero as he watched the remains fall towards the Earth.

'We did what we could Zero. Let's head towards that ship. They maybe they will be able to help us.'

Heero then transformed Wing Zero back to Neo-Bird mode for atmospheric re-entry and he flew towards the Minerva.

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter on my triple cross over fan fic. Please read and review. Thanks**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Heero meets the Minerva**

The alarms were going off inside the ZAKU that the green eyed pilot known as Athrun was flying.

'Not good,' said Athrun. 'I don't think I'll be able to pull myself up before I hit the water, this is going to hurt.'

Athrun then braced himself for the impact that was about to come. Suddenly his radar beeped as he noticed a mobile suit flying towards him.

'Need a hand?' asked the red eyed pilot as he neared Athrun.

'Don't Shinn; the Impulse doesn't have enough thrust to keep both mobile suits in the air' replied Athrun as he felt the Impulse grab onto the ZAKU.

'Why do you have to say something so noble?'

'Well what would you rather have me say?'

'Something like "Save me you bastard"'

'Alright, if that's what you want'

'No that was just an example'

On board the Minerva the radar went off as the two mobile suits were in range.

'Captain, we have the Impulse and ZAKU insight' said Meyrin as the IFF for the ZAKU and Impulse appeared on the radar.

'Get as close as you can and fire a signal flare to show our location,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam.'

Just as Shinn noticed the flare and started to fly towards the Minerva, Heero in Wing Zero also caught sight of the bright object.

'That's them Zero,' said Hero as he flew towards the ship.

'The unknown mobile suit from Junius Seven is on radar captain. The pilot is trying to make contact.'

'Open up the line Meyrin.'

'Yes Mam.'

'This is Heero Yuy, pilot of the Gundam Wing Zero,' said Heero as he kept out to the ships guns range.

'This is Thalia Gladys, captain of the ZAFT battle ship Minerva. We are in your debt for your help in destroying Junius Seven'

_'ZAFT_?Then perhaps you could repay that debt by letting me land on your ship?'

'That seems fair. Permission granted Heero Yuy, please head towards the landing platform.'

'Roger that' replied Heero as he guided Wing Zero towards the ship.

'Meyrin, add the unkwon mobile suit to the library and label it as Wing Zero.'

'Yes Mam.'

Suddenly the radar went off as a large object came at the Minerva.

'Captain, a large object is about to hit the Minerva. It looks like a piece of Junius Seven,' said Meyrin.

'Can you hit it with the rear guns?' asked Gladys.

'No Mam, the guns took damage during the Junius Seven operation, and it we move the ship we'll loose Athrun and Shinn.'

'Damn it,' grunted Gladys as she slammed her fist on the console.

Just as Heero had the ship in sight his radar went off indicating the falling object heading towards the Minerva.

'We need to stop that meteor Zero,' said Heero as Zero's eyes flashed and Heero hit the boosters to maximum.

'Captain, the unknown mobile suit is heading in between the Minerva and the meteor,' said Meyrin.

'Let's hope he can get the in time,' replied Gladys.

Heero flew Wing Zero towards the meteor and in mid flight spun around and transformed back into mobile suit mode.

'Did he just transform his mobile suit in mid air at that speed?' asked Gladys in awe. 'He must be one hell of a pilot to do that.'

Heero then hovered Wing Zero at the rear of the Minerva as he aimed the Twin-Buster Rifle for the umpteenth time that day. He waited till it was close enough to be considered too close for comfort, then fired and blasted the meteor into a billion tiny pieces that only scratched Wing Zero and the Minerva.

'Thank god for that,' said Gladys. 'We owe that pilot our lives, again.'

Just then Wing Zero landed at the rear the same time the Impulse landed with the ZAKU.

'It's that mobile suit,' said Shinn as he caught sight of Wing Zero.

'Captain, all three mobile suits on board,' said Meyrin.

'Good, let's try and land somewhere safe,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied the pilot of the Minerva.

The pilot of the Minerva then guided the ship towards the surface of the ocean and landed with a thud and splash.

The Impulse walked into the hanger and placed the damaged ZAKU on the ground before walking to his spot in the hanger. Just as Shinn had powered down the Impulse, Wing Zero entered the hanger and walked to an empty spot opposite the other mobile suits.

'Can these people be trusted Zero?' asked Heero as he saw a group of people stand in front of Wing Zero, one he recognised as the captain. 'Roger that Zero, we'll be careful till we find out what we need.'

Heero then powered down Wing Zero and opened up the cockpit. To everyone's surprise Wing Zero didn't turn grey like the Impulse, instead it was still blue and white. As Heero grabbed a hold of the cord and lowered himself to the ground, the people gathered could only gaze in awe at the pilot.

'He's so young,' said Arthur to Gladys.

As Heero walked up to the captain, Gladys froze to the spot as she looked into the deep blue eyes that showed nothing but cold, darkness and death.

'I'm Heero Yuy and this is Wing Zero,' said Heero in a cold monotone voiced that matched his emotionless face.

Gladys shook herself out of the trance that Heero's eyes put her in and held out her hand.

'Thalia Gladys, Captain of the Minerva.'

Heero reluctantly took her hand all the while not taking his eyes off of everyone and everything.

'We are in your debt Heero, not only did you save the Earth from destruction but you saved this ship as well.'

'It's my job as a Gundam pilot. But in return could you please rearm and repair Wing Zero as well as answer some questions that I have?'

'Yes, I also have some questions for you. But first, why didn't your mobile suit turn grey when it powered down? Does it have continual Phase Shift Armour?'

'No, Zero is made from Gundamium; I don't even know what Phase Shift Armour is'

'Gundamium?' asked Arthur with a blank look on his face.

'I think better continue this conversation in my office, but first I bet you want to change out of your flight suit and freshen up. Lunamaria,' called Gladys as magenta haired girl in a red uniform with a pink mini skirt walked up to Heero and the group. When Heero caught sight of her he got a strange feeling that he'd never felt before as he looked into those bright violet eyes.

'Yes Captain?' asked Lunamaria.

'Would you be so kind to take Heero to an empty room?'

'Yes Man,' replied Lunamaria as she looked at the brown haired, blue eyed pilot. The look in his eyes made her fell like ice they were that cold.

'I'll get my bag first,' replied Heero as went back to Zero.

As he walked back to the group he noticed some mechanics looking with lust at Wing Zero and some had already reached the cockpit.

'I wouldn't do that' said Heero just as one mechanic was about to step in.

'Why not?' asked a mechanic with black hair and an orange streak.

'Because if anyone tries to touch the cockpit, Zero will activate its self-destruct and blow up and take this ship and everyone onboard with it.'

The mechanics had a look of fear on their faces and started to walk away from Wing Zero altogether.

'You've got to be joking,' said Shinn.

Heero just looked at Shinn and said 'Try me.'

The look Shinn received made him shut his mouth.

'Just reload the machine cannons on the shoulders and replace any armour, I'll take care of the computer when I get back.' Heero then turned back to Lunamaria and said. 'Let's go.'

Lunamaria then led Heero towards the elevator out of the hanger. They were about to get in when the blonde haired girl in a maroon suit ran past them towards the pilot of the damaged ZAKU.

'You had me worried Athrun,' she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

'I'm fine Cagalli,' replied Athrun as Heero and Lunamaria stepped into the elevator and Lunamaria pressed the button for the sleeping quarters.

There was an uneasy silence as the two stood in the elevator. Lunamaria wanted to say something but she felt uneasy around the young pilot. When the elevator stopped they got out and Lunamaria led Heero towards and empty room.

'Are you a pilot?' asked Heero as he followed the young women.

'Yes,' answered Lunamaria. 'I pilot a red ZAKU warrior.'

'I see,' replied Heero. '_What's a ZAKU? Must be like a Leo_.'

'We're here,' said Lunamaria as they stopped outside a door breaking Heero from his thoughts.

Lunamaria then opened the door and turned on the lights as Heero followed her inside.

'I'd like to thank you for saving this ship, Heero was it?'

'Yes, and you're welcome, Lunamaria?

'Yes but you can call me Luna, all my friends do.'

'I'm not you friend,' replied Heero making Luna feel a little taken back.

Heero then proceeded to empty his bag. As he unzipped his flight suit a photo fell out.

'Who's this?' asked Luna as Heero looked up and saw Luna holding the photo.

**Flashback**

'Here takes this,' said a girl to Heero as she handed him something as he got into Wing Zero's cockpit before the final battle with Zechs.

Heero looked at it and saw that it was a photo of the girl.

'It's so I can protect you on and off the battle field.'

**End Flashback**

'Relena,' answered Heero as he took the photo back.

'Is that your girlfriend?'

'No, just a girl I protect,'

'Oh, I'll wait outside while you change,' said Luna as she left the room.

Heero then changed from his flight suit and put on a pair of jeans, jacket and some boots, and placed his pistol in the waistband of his jeans, and a revolver and combat knife in his boots. He then left the room after he stashed everything under his bed.

'Ready,' said Heero as Luna jumped from his sudden voice and appearance.

'Follow me,' said Luna as she led Heero back to the elevator and up to the captain's office.

As they were about to enter the office the pilot of the damaged ZAKU known as Athrun and the blonde girl Cagalli walked out. When Cagalli saw Heero she walked up to him and offered thanks.

'On behalf of Orb and the rest of the Earth I would like to thank you for your help in reducing the damage of Junius Seven and saving the planet.'

'And you are?' asked Heero.

'Where are my manners, my name is Cagalli Yula Atha, Chief Representative of the Orb Union. This is my bodyguard Athrun Zala.'

'You aren't related to the Patrick Zala that that mobile suit pilot said was right?'

'Yes, he was my father,' replied Athrun.

'I see,' said Heero as he sensed some sadness in Athrun's voice.

A silence then fell over the group.

'We should let you get on,' said Cagalli. 'Thanks again.'

Cagalli and Athrun then walked toward the elevator leaving Heero and Luna waiting outside the captain's office.

'That was awkward,' said Luna. 'Time to see the captain.'

'Righto,' said Heero as Luna knocked on the door.

'Yes?' asked Gladys.

'I've brought Heero Yuy to see you captain.'

'Come in Heero,' said Gladys as she opened the door. 'Please wait outside Lunamaria.'

'Yes Mam,' said Luna as Heero walked in.

The office was a reasonable size with the captain sitting at a desk with the man called Arthur standing beside her.

'Please take a seat Heero,' said Gladys as she indicated a seat near the desk which Heero took.

An uneasy silence took over the office as no one knew where to begin until Heero spoke.

'Who exactly are you?'

'I'm Captain Thalia Gladys of the ZAFT mobile assault ship Minerva.'

'So who or what is ZAFT?'

'ZAFT stands for Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. It's our nation which is made up of coordinators who live in space colonies called the Plants. I thought you would have known that, even being a natural'

'I've never heard of ZAFT or Orb or naturals or coordinators or the Plants before.'

This statement stunned Gladys and Arthur.

'Then where are you from?' asked Gladys.

'L1 Colony Cluster'

'Well I've never heard of that before. What group do you belong to?'

'The Gundams aboard Peace Million'

'Who did you fight?'

'We originally started fighting a group called OZ who were oppressing the colonies. Then the colonies betrayed the gundams and we began fighting the colonies military group known as White Fang.'

'So you were involved in a war?'

'Of sorts. My group as you call it had just defeated the Earth Sphere Alliance and White Fang. Before we could declare the war over, a piece of the White Fang's battleship Libra began falling towards Earth. I had just destroyed that piece when I was hit by some kind of vortex caused from the explosion caused by Wing Zero's Buster rifle and the piece of Libra. I lost consciousness and when I woke up I saw you guys and that thing you called Junius Seven which I now am guessing was a Plant colony, correct?'

'Yes but like you I have never heard or any of those organizations. I Wonder?' pondered Gladys. 'Could the explosion have caused a rip in the space time continuum between the universe you come from and ours?'

'I don't know but if that is true then that means the others will probably be looking for me.'

**AC 196**

It had been 3 months since the battle between White Fang, the Earth Sphere Alliance and the Gundams was over .Four mobile suits flew around the debri left from the battle that had decided humanities fate.

'I can't find any trace of Heero or Wing Zero.' Said one pilot in a black mobile suit with bat like wings. 'Any luck Quatre?'

'Nothing over here Duo, you Trwoa?" asked the pilot of a black mobile suit with twin swords.

'Nothing either,' replied the pilot of a red mobile suit with twin gattling guns. 'You Wufei?'

'Nothing, where could he be?' said the final pilot in a green mobile suit with dragon heads on his arms.

'I don't know but there is still a lot of radiation activity around here. I hope nothing bad happened,' said Trowa.

'What are we going to tell Relena and the others,' replied Quatre.

'The same thing we always do, but she will only send us out again until we have found some proof of what happened,' replied Trowa.

'Let's just hope that Howard's research pulls up something soon,' said Duo as the four pilots started heading back to base.

**Well that's the end of chapter two. I hope you enjoyed. You know the drill, Read and Review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Past, Present and Future Part 1**

**CE 73**

The three people sitting in the captain's office of the Minerva were feeling very confused, most of all Heero.

'Until we reach headquarters there isn't much we can do at the moment so for now we offer you our hospitality as we head towards Orb,' said Gladys.

'I understand,' said Heero. 'Thank you anyhow.'

'Lunamaria,' called Gladys as she opened the door. 'Please take Heero to the dining room; I feel he may need some time to think.'

'Yes Mam,' replied Luna as Heero got out of his seat.

'And Lunamaria,'

'Yes Captain?'

'I trust that everything you just heard will be kept to yourself?'

'Yes Mam,' answered Luna after being sprung eavesdropping.

Heero proceeded to follow Luna towards the dining room, he felt like his life had been torn apart.

'_How am I gonna get home?_' Heero thought to himself.

'What do you want to eat?' asked Luna as they entered the dining room.

'Nothing to be honest, I think I'd rather go see how the repairs with Wing Zero are going,'

'Ok, follow me then.'

When the two arrived at the hanger Heero walked up to Wing Zero with Luna following. She just gazed in amazement at the awe inspiring mobile suit.

'So how come it doesn't loose colour again?' asked Luna.

'Made from Gundamium.'

'What's that?'

'An alloy formed in space, also gives the name to the Gundams,'

'How many were there in your world?'

'I thought the captain said to forget about it?'

'Yes, I was just curious,'

'That's fine,' said Heero as he made his way to Wing Zero's cockpit. He then hopped inside with Luna standing outside after she remembered what Heero said about Zero.

'Who's Zero?'

'The system installed inside Wing Zero. It takes combat data and analyses all possible outcomes giving the pilot a ninety-nine percent chance of victory,'

'It sees the future?'

'Sort of but you have to be able to control the system before you can use it to its potential. It drives most people insane when they try to use the Zero System which is why you have to keep your emotions under control while in battle or Zero ends up controlling you. I'm one of only two people that have mastered it.

'Who else mastered it?' as Luna before she could help herself.

'My enemy that I defeated,' said Heero in response as he remembered his final battle with Zechs on board the Libra. 'Now could you please leave me alone while I work on Zero,' said Heero as he closed the cockpit.

Heero then powered up Wing Zero and noticed Luna walking away with a look of rejection on her face. Heero then checked out all systems and sent power to the armour that was made from some carbon alloy.

'Sorry that it isn't Gundamium Zero but it'll have to do for now,' said Heero as Zero flashed his eyes in acknowledgement. 'Now let's check out our new battle ground.'

Heero then hacked into the Minerva's mainframe without setting off any alarms. He pulled up files on all members aboard the Minerva, as well as the history of the universe he learned was the Cosmic Era. Every fact about coordinators, naturals, Earth, the Plants, Orb, and the Bloody Valentine War and everyone that was involved stuck to his head like glue, Zero used this information to show Heero what will most likely happen.

'Looks like this world is more twisted then ours Zero, but we still need more information' said Heero as he finished sorting through all this files. He then powered down Wing Zero and left the cockpit.

He then wandered around the hanger looking at all the mobile suits ticking off in his head the model, pilot, strengths and weakness. He then came to the Impulse which as he remembered was similar to a Gundam. He then proceeded back to the elevator and pressed the first floor button. In a matter of seconds he was on the floor. When he stepped out of the elevator he heard gun shots coming from outside. Heero decided to have a look at what was going on.

As he looked outside he noticed that Luna, the guy called Shinn and two unknown people were all firing pistols at targets. He noticed that Luna wasn't very accurate. As she turned around to reload she noticed Heero leaning on the door watching.

'Done with your mobile suit then?' asked Luna.

'Yes, how does a world as high tech as yours not have Gundamium?'

'I don't know, how come yours doesn't have Phase Shift' said Luna in Response as she turned back to shoot but got an idea. 'You want to have a go?'

'Sure,' answered Heero as he pulled out his pistol while walking up to the shooting post.

Heero then proceed to empty his entire clip into the smallest target zone. Luna could only stare in amazement.

'That was too easy,' said Heero as he reloaded. 'Anything harder?'

'Try this,' said Shinn with a smirk as he pressed the button that activated the 2 second pop up targets.

Heero then emptied another clip into the targets, never missing the centre mark.

'Wow, for a natural you're very quick' said Luna. 'Maybe there is something wrong with my gun?'

'Let's see,' said Heero as Luna handed him her gun.

'You're a natural?' asked Shinn. 'No natural can have the reflexes of a coordinator. How are you so good?'

'I was trained from a young age by Doctor J to be a soldier,' said Heero as he fired some shots into the centre of the target with Luna's gun. 'He also altered my genes after birth when he installed the bioengineered chromosome 24 into my genes. So in a way I'm a cross between a natural and coordinator but I just have and extra pair or chromosomes.'

Heero then fired the rest of the mag into the target before turning to speak to Luna.

'Nope, nothing wrong with the gun, you just twist your wrist before you fire. Try this,' said Heero as he pulled his revolver from his boot. 'It's got a different weight distribution to the pistol so you shouldn't have the same problem.'

As Luna took the revolver from Heero, Shinn asked 'What is chromosome 24?'

'Chromosome 24 allows me to have greater speed, strength and intelligence then a human with twenty-three chromosomes. I also heal five times faster as well, but doesn't remove scars and evidence of broken bones' answered Heero as he watched Luna hit the dead centre of the target with each shot.

'Wow,' said Luna. 'You were right. So how old are you?' asked Luna as she went to hand Heero his revolver back but he didn't take it

'I'm sixteen,' said Heero as he handed Luna the rest of the speed loaders he kept in his jacket. 'You keep it. You'll need it. Come to my room for the rest of the ammo later.'

'Ok but what will I need it for?' asked Luna as she took them. '_He's so young_.' She thought as he looked into his eyes again.

'The war that is to come,' said the blonde man Heero recognised as Rey Za Burrel.

'What war?' asked the short red head called Meyrin.

'The second war between coordinators and naturals since it was coordinators that dropped Junius Seven on Earth,' said Heero.

'How do you know it was coordinators?' asked Luna.

'Because they used my father's name,' came a voice from the door as the group turned to see Athrun standing there with Cagalli. 'The terrorist in the mobile suit that attacked us when we were demolishing Junius Seven said that Patrick Zala was right all along and that the true path for coordinators was the one he'd chosen.'

The group looked in astonishment at what Athrun said, except for Heero and Shinn as they were there when it was said.

'But if it was only a handful of coordinators then it shouldn't matter,' said Cagalli.

'If only it were that simple,' said Heero. 'Because coordinators built it and dropped it then the leaders of the Earth will see it as an attempt on their lives and with the panic, fear and destruction that was caused it will only be too easy to start a war.'

Meanwhile, high up in the mountains of Western Europe, a man sat in an underground bunker looking over some photos.

'Oh you have done well Phantom Pain,' said the man as photos of the terrorist placing booster on Junius Seven flashed across the screen. 'Not only did you secure the three mobile suits from armoury one but you supplied me with the Intel required to put my plan into action.'

The man then pressed a button on his desk.

'Yes Lord Djibril?' asked a voice on the intercom.

'Contact the President of the Earth, the Leader of the Earth Alliance and the other members of Logos at once,' ordered Djibril.

'Yes Sir.'

It took only a matter of minutes before the room was filled with over a dozen faces as they appeared on the many screens on the wall.

'Gentleman,' started Djibril once all were present. 'I have here evidence of the Plants attempts to destroy the Earth. I hope it will be enough for you to give me your support to start another war to rid the world of coordinators for good?'

'You have our approval Lord Djibril,' said all the faces present before disappearing.

'Everything is going as planned,' said Djibril to himself as he smiled. '_For the preservation of our blue and pure world._'

Later that evening Heero sat in his room, typing on his computer, looking at data as he always does, trying to predict everything that could happen with the Zero system in the laptop. Just as Heero shut down the program there was a knock at the door.

'Heero, it's Luna, you said to come get the rest of the revolver ammo.'

'Come in,' replied Heero as he exited to his desktop before Luna could see the files he stole from the Minerva.

As Luna entered the room she saw Heero go to his cupboard and bring out a box of ammo.

'There are one hundred rounds in there and five more speed loaders, so you should be right,' said Heero as he handed Luna the box of ammo.

'Thank you,' said Luna with a smile that Heero didn't return.

As he sat back at his desk, Luna noticed a photo of five people in front of five mobile suits. One pair she noticed as Heero and Wing Zero.

'Are they the other pilots?' asked Luna.

'Yes, that's them,'

'Who are they?'

'Left to right, there's Duo Maxwell and Deathscythe, Trowa Barton and Heavyarms, Quatre Raberba Winner and Sandrock, and Chang Wufei and Altron.'

'Were they you're friends?'

Heero thought for a moment before answering.

'By the end of the war, yes. At the beginning we were all told that there would be four other Gundam pilots involved in Operation Meteor from four different colonies and that it was crucial that we meet. We first met at an OZ base where we were told we would be able to eliminate some high ranking OZ officials. The Intel was incorrect and I ended up killing the people who were trying to cease the conflict between OZ and the colonies. We then joined forces as the colonies betrayed us and we were stuck in a battle between the Earth Sphere Alliance and White Fang.'

'So was that the war you were talking to the captain about?'

'Yes it was, hopefully it is over now since both leaders were defeated by us.'

'Do you miss them?'

At the sound of those words Heero had memories of all the Gundam pilots, Relena and the others float through his mind. This caused Heero to smile as he answered Luna's question. 'I suppose I do.'

Luna noticed the smile but is disappeared as quickly as it appeared as Heero continued.

'Hopefully I'll be able to return one day but for now Zero says that it's highly impossible.'

'What was your life like?' asked Luna as she became more intrigued by the pilot who for some reason hadn't told her to leave him alone.

'My parents died when I was very young. Doctor J raised me as soldier for as long as I can remember. He taught me to kill and not have any emotions. I had no friends, and I only knew the battlefield until I met the others. I was considered the perfect soldier. An emotionless killing machine that would obey any order.'

Before she knew what she was doing Luna placed her hand on Heero's shoulder before speaking. 'That must have been hard for you. I couldn't imagine being your age and already have the blood and lives of so many people on your hands.'

She kept her hand there while thinking. '_I now know why he has that cold emotionless face and those eyes full of death_. _I feel sorry for him._'

Heero's first thought was to tell Luna to never touch him again but decided against it as it felt comforting.

'You know it doesn't have to be like that here. You can consider us your friends until you find a way home,' said Luna as she removed her hand and left Heero staring at his computer.

'_What is wrong with me? I just told here some of my deepest thoughts, things I've never told anyone, not even Relena,. Not even the most painful interrogation could extract that information from me. And all she had to do was ask_. _I must be loosing it._'

Heero then shut down his computer before jumping on his bed and getting some rest.

**That's the end of chapter 3. It's a two part because it's heaps long and important. Also you may have noticed a bit from the movie Doom. I thought since Heero is a genetically modified human that C-24 would be appropriate. Please Read and Review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Past, Present and Future Part 2**

The next day around noon, the Minerva arrived in Orb at Onogoro Island. The crew of the Minerva were greeted by members of the Orb government as they awaited the arrival of Cagalli and Athrun (or Alex as they knew him). As soon as Cagalli set foot on Orb soil a man in maroon suit and violet hair ran up to Cagalli and threw this arms around her.

'I'm so glad that you're safe,' said the man in a girly voice.

'I'm fine Yuna,' replied Cagalli as she managed to push him off of her.

'I understand your feelings Yuna but please show some restraint,' said a big man with glasses dressed in a Maroon suit as well.

'Yes father,' said Yuna as he went and stood beside his father as he addressed the Minerva's crew.

'I'm Unato Seiran, Prime Minister of the Orb Union. We thank you for returning our Chief Representative to us safe and sound. We understand that it hasn't been easy in doing so,' said Unato.

'I'm Talia Gladys, captain of the ZAFT battle ship Minerva,' said Gladys as she saluted the Orb government.

'I'm Deputy Captain Arthur Trine,' said Arthur as he too saluted.

Unato nodded his head in acknowledgement before Gladys continued.

'We appreciate your thanks, and yes it hasn't been easy. First with the raid on armoury one in the Plants then the fall of Junius Seven, we're a little out of the loop as to what is happening.'

'That's understandable,' said Unato. 'Well the world is in a state of panic, as it would be after a disaster like this. Most coastal areas were hit by huge waves of water and some inland cities were damaged, which is a lot less disastrous then what could have happened if all of Junius Seven fell. Both Earth Forces and ZAFT are doing what they can for disaster relief. Other than that there isn't much more I can tell you.'

'I see,' replied Gladys. 'Would it be ok if we were able to get the Minerva repaired here before heading for Carpentaria?'

'Most certainly, it's the least we can do after your heroics and return of Lady Cagalli. But you must excuse us, there are pressing matters that need attending too,' said Unato before bowing to Gladys.

'We understand,' replied Gladys as she saluted the Orb government.

'Come Cagalli,' said Yuna as he walked over to the Chief Representative and placed his arm on her shoulder to lead here away from the Minerva and her crew.

'But?' responded Cagalli as she looked over her shoulder at Athrun.

Yuna noticed this and stopped walking to address Athrun.

'Ah yes, thank you for your services once again Alex. I'll collect your report later but please take some time off. You never know when your services will be required again,' said Yuna as he started walking off again.

'Thank you Sir,' replied Athrun as he bowed to the cabinet minister that was leading his girlfriend away.

Athrun then turned to Gladys.

'Thank you for all your help. I'll take my leave now,' said Athrun.

'You're welcome,' replied Gladys as she watched Athrun turn and start to walk away. 'All hands return to ship for maintenance and resupply.'

There was a scurry as the Minerva's crew made to get back on the ship.

Athrun had gotten only four steps before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and was surprised to see it was Heero.

'Yes?' asked Athrun.

Heero then leant his head close to Athrun's so only the two of them could hear what was said.

'I need the name and location of the chief engineer that designed the original G-weapons,' said Heero as he handed Athrun a piece of paper.

'How did you know about that?' asked Athrun as he scribbled down what Heero asked for.

'Never mind,' replied Heero as he took the piece of paper back. 'Thanks.'

With that Heero turned and walked back to the Minerva while Athrun made his was out of the docks.

Gladys had just sat down in her office when there was knock on the door.

'Enter,' said Gladys as she watched to see Heero enter. 'Heero, to what do I owe this pleasure?'

'I was wondering if I was able to take Wing Zero off of the ship to make sure all systems are functioning?'

'Of course you can, it's your machine and I have no control over you. But I thought you were going to stay with us until we reached Carpentaria?'

'That is correct. I'll make sure I'm back before you leave. Thank you Captain,' said Heero as he left the room.

As Heero was walking towards the hanger he unfolded the piece of paper that revealed the name and coordinates of the secret facility where one Chief Erica Simmons was located. Heero then noticed something else scribbled at the bottom.

'_When you're finished there come to this address, there's someone I want you to meet_.'

'Right,' said Heero as he made his to Wing Zero and jumped into the cockpit.

After Heero had strapped himself in he pressed the communication button to contact the bridge. A face appeared on Meyrin's screen that she hadn't seen before.

'Yes?' she asked nervously as she looked at the emotionless face of Heero with his cold blue eyes.

'Heero Yuy requesting permission to leave the Minerva in Wing Zero,' said Heero as he awaited a response from the red haired girl.

'Captain Gladys has given her permission,' replied Meyrin. 'Proceed to the launch catapult.'

'Roger that,' said Heero as he turned off the communications console.

Heero then walked Wing Zero to the launch catapult and waited for the hatch to open before powering Wing Zero's thrusters and flying out of the catapult before the launchers had time to get in place. Those watching on the bridge were stunned as they watched Wing Zero take off under its own power. Heero then punched the coordinates Athrun gave him into Wing Zero's navigator and a map appeared on the screen with the location of the island where Erica Simmons base was located.

Meanwhile at the Orb government headquarters, Cagalli was in a meeting with the cabinet ministers when she suddenly thumped her hand on the desk at the proposition that was just brought forward.

'You can't be serious,' said Cagalli as she looked at the ministers. 'Orb cannot join the Earth Alliance. We are a neutral nation that doesn't get involved in other nation's disputes.'

'You must understand that it is in the best interests of Orb that we join the Alliance,' said Unato.

'So everything that my father and the others died for means nothing to you.'

'It has nothing to do with that. If war breaks out then we need assurance that we will be protected. This treaty will ensure that Orb doesn't burn again. I'm sure you can understand that.'

'There has also been photos broadcast all over Earth showing coordinators applying boosters to Junius Seven and the Plants have said that this is more or less what actually happened, but you already know this,' said Yuna.

'Yes but it was only a handful or terrorists and as soon as they knew what was happening, Chairman Durandal did everything in his power to stop it,' said Cagalli before she was cut off.

'I know where you are going to go with this Cagalli, but there will be time for it later. There are still some more pressing matters that need dealing with,' finished Unato.

The discussion then turned to other matters as Cagalli's thoughts remained on the possibility the Orb could join the Earth Alliance.

'There it is Zero,' said Heero as the navigator showed that they had reached the destination.

As Heero reached the small island, Heero punched in the eight digit code that unlocked the gates that lead into the facility. When Heero saw the gates open he flew Wing Zero inside and down a long tunnel until he came to an underground hanger. As he landed he noticed a lady with brown hair and an orange coat waiting for him. He guessed that this was Erica Simmons.

As Heero exited Wing Zero's cockpit the women he assumed was Erica spoke.

'You must be Heero Yuy, Athrun said that you were coming,' said Erica.

'Then you must be Erica Simmons,' replied Heero as his feet touched the ground.

'That's right, what can I do for you Heero?'

'I understand that you were in charge of developing the original G-weapons,'

'That's right,'

'Well could you please take a look at Wing Zero and see how much damage there is and what needs repairing, and may I also borrow a computer?'

'I guess I could do that, after all you did help save the Earth,' said Erica with a smile that Heero didn't return. 'Computer is in there.'

'Thank you,' replied Heero as he walked in the direction Erica pointed. 'And one more thing.'

'Yes?'

'Stay out of the cockpit till I get back.'

'Understood, Athrun mentioned that as well.'

As Heero left the hanger and made his way towards the communications room, Erica could only stare in amazement at Wing Zero.

'_This is one hell of a machine_,' she thought to herself as she started to gather the equipment needed.

Once Heero was in the communications room he locked the door to make sure no one could see what he was about to do. As soon he activated the computer he started to hack into the Orb mainframe. He went through every file in the Orb governments hard drive and once in a while he would say 'Interesting' as he came across something unusual. After an hour of reading he came across something unusual.

'What's this?' he asked as he accessed the file. 'I see, hmm.'

The file Heero accessed was communications between members of the Orb government and a high ranking official of the Earth Alliance.

'I wonder,' said Heero as he started to do a complex hack using codes from the message. 'Yes,' said Heero as he smiled at his own skills.

By doing this complex hack, Heero was able to access the Earth Alliance mainframe and he began reading some of the classified files. After another hour of reading Heero felt that he had absorbed enough Intel for Zero to make some accurate predictions.

Heero then created a fake I.D, bank account, and passport and stole one million dollars from several large bank accounts and placed the money in his without leaving a trace of access. He then made his way back out to Erica who had just finished her examination of Wing Zero.

'It is most certainly an impressive machine Heero,' said Erica as she caught sight of Heero. 'There were a few cracks in the armour which I repaired. I also made adjustments to the boosters and thrusters.'

'Thanks,' said Heero. 'I'll start up Wing Zero and make the necessary adjustments.'

As Heero activated Wing Zero, the Zero system instantly took all the intel that Heero had gathered and projected the most likely scenario into Heero's mind.

'I see,' said Heero as Zero finished its calculations. 'Looks like we'll have to do something about it won't we Zero?'

'Everything good?' asked Erica as Heero made his way back down to the hanger floor.

'All systems functioning properly, thanks.'

'You're welcome.'

'But I have something else I need you to do for me.'

'What is it?' asked Erica.

'I need you to build me this,' responded Heero as he handed Erica a handheld with blue prints on it.

Erica gave the blueprints a once over before looking at Heero.

'Why do you need this?'

'You'll know once you hear what I'm about to tell you,' said Heero as Erica gave him a puzzled look.

Back at Onogoro port, Captain Gladys was overlooking the resupply and repairs of the Minerva.

'Captain, I know that resupplying the ship is crucial but shouldn't we wait till we reach Carpentaria to make repairs?' asked Arthur.

'Are you saying that you would like me to dismiss this nations offer to repair our ship?' retorted Gladys.

'Well no,' said Arthur a little lost for words.

'But a commander can't have her battle ship in bad shape now can she?' came a voice from behind them.

Gladys and Arthur turned to be met by a buxom brunette in a yellow shirt. Arthur instantly went goo-goo eyed.

'That's true,' replied Gladys and she pushed Arthur away. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Maria Bernes, I'm in charge of the work crew for your ship,' replied Maria (aka Murrue Ramius). 'As I understand it this ship hasn't even had a launching ceremony but it already has quite a history.'

'Yes but under the circumstances it couldn't be helped.'

'You never can help what can't be seen but that's why we live by the decisions we make each day and if those decisions turn out to be wrong then that's when we cry and feel guilty. But then we just go on to the next day.'

'You're right,' said Gladys as the two continued to look at the ship.

After Athrun had left the docks he made his way up to the Atha estate where he jumped into his six speed sports car before speeding off down the road. (Dating the leader of a nation has its advantages). As he reached the beach he noticed two people walking with a bunch of little kids. Athrun pulled up the car as he got nearer.

'Kira? Lacus?' called Athrun.

The two people looked up at the sounds of their names being called and saw Athrun waving.

'It's Athrun,' said one of the little kids as they ran up to see the legendary pilot.

'Athrun, Athrun.'

'Where did you go?'

'Where's Lady Cagalli?'

'Our house got destroyed and we lost all our toys.'

'I'm sorry to hear that,' replied Athrun as he was overwhelmed by all of the question being thrown at him.

'Now, now children,' said Lacus as she and Kira reached the road. 'Give Athrun time to breath. How are you?'

'I'm good thanks. Kira.'

'Athrun,' said Kira in reply as they always greeted each other this way.

Lacus could see that there was something important that Athrun wanted to say so she gathered all the children and made her way back to the beach.

'I'll see you later Athrun,' she said as she waved to Kira and Athrun before continuing down the beach.'

Athrun and Kira were sitting in the car in silence as they drove down the road.

'I suppose everyone knows what happened?' asked Athrun.

'Yes,' replied Kira.

'One of them spoke to me. He said 'Patrick Zala was right all along and that the path for coordinators was the one that he chose."'

'You fought them?'

'Yes. When the Minerva went to destroy it, I just couldn't sit and do nothing,' said Athrun as they pulled into the drive way of Kira's current home.

'Do you remember when we were in Orb and I asked what we should be fighting for and you said we would look for that answer together?' continued Athrun.

'Yes.'

'Well, I still haven't found that answer.'

Just as Athrun had finished speaking he and Kira looked at the road after hearing the sound of tyres screech and saw a black motorbike pull up in front of the house.

'He's here,' said Athrun once he saw that the rider was Heero.

'Who?' asked Kira.

'Come, there's someone I want you to meet,' said Athrun as he got out of his chair and made his way to the front of the house with Kira following.

As the two emerged through the front door Kira almost froze when he looked into the Heero's eyes.

'Find the place ok,' asked Athrun.

'Yeah, thanks for that,' replied Heero.

'Heero this is the person I wanted you to meet. This is,'

'Kira Yamato,' finished Heero.

'Well, yes but how did you know?' asked Athrun as he was shocked that Heero knew who was standing in front of him.

'I'll tell you in good time but first I need to speak to you both about something important. Is there somewhere private we can go?'

'This way,' said Kira as he led Heero and Athrun to the study.

**Well that's the end of the two part chapter. Some crucial elements have come to head. Please read and review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: So it begins…**

The next morning Athrun sat at the dining room table of the Atha estate looking at news reports while thinking about what Heero had said last night. His thoughts were interrupted by Cagalli as she made her way to the dining room.

'I'm so sorry about last night,' she said as she reached Athrun. 'I was held up with cabinet meetings and I'm in meetings all day starting this morning so I better hurry.'

'That's fine,' replied Athrun as he continued looking at the news reports. 'What's Orb's position on this?'

'Unato and the others are insisting on joining the Earth Alliance in an attempt to keep face with the rest of the world since the fall of Junius Seven. But I don't want to discard the ideals of Orb.'

'I see,' said Athrun. 'I've decided to return to the plants.'

'But why?'

'Because there are still people there that believe in my father's ideals so if there is any way that I can help as Athrun or as Alex then I'll do it,' replied Athrun as he thought about the conversation that Heero, Kira and he had the previous night.

Athrun and Cagalli then made their way out to the front of the house where a helicopter had arrived to take Athrun to the space port. Athrun then turned around as he pulled something out of his pocket.

'I know about the situation with Yuna but it doesn't mean I have to like it,' said Athrun as he took hold of Cagalli's left hand and slipped a ring on her finger.

'What?' asked Cagalli as she saw Athrun turn red. 'A ring is just something you spring on someone.'

'I know,' replied Athrun as Cagalli giggled.

'Take care and keep in touch.'

'Hang in there Cagalli,' said Athrun as the two embraced before pulling away and sharing one final kiss.

Athrun then hopped in the chopper and took off for the space port as Cagalli stood at the door watching while holding her hands to her heart.

Meanwhile, Heero was sitting in the cockpit of Wing Zero, working on a few adjustments while Zero kept on talking to Heero.

'I know, it is almost time,' Heero would reply as he kept working.

'Hey Heero,' called Erica from the hanger floor. 'Can you come help me with something?'

'Sure,' said Heero as he exited the cockpit. 'What do you need?'

'Can you run over a diagnostic of a new mobile suit I'm designing?'

'Show me,' replied Heero as Erica led him to the computer room.

'Hmm,' said Heero after he had looked over the plans. 'I'd say that you need to rebalance the left side to make up for the extra weight on the right and I'd use some stronger thrusters.'

'Thanks,' said Erica as Heero got out of the chair.

'No problem,' replied Heero as he left the room.

Later that afternoon, Shinn stood at the memorial for the people that lost their lives at Onogoro. He couldn't hold back the tears as the memories of that day came flooding back. He then stopped when he heard a noise to his left. He turned and saw a man with brown hair and purple eyes, dressed in black standing near a plaque.

'Is it a memorial?' asked Shinn.

'Yeah, looks that way, but I'm not sure. You see it's my first time here myself,' said the purple eyed man. 'I always promised myself to come visit it.'

'I see,' said Shinn.

'But the flowers will wither and die from the ocean spray,'

'Maybe it's because they know that they can't be fooled and that they'll die anyway,'

'What?' asked the man in black as a girl with pink hair walked up singing.

'Nothing. I didn't mean anything by it,' replied Shinn as he turned and started walking away from the shrine.

At Orb headquarters the cabinet and Cagalli were in a discussion.

'You can't be serious,' said Cagalli.

'I'm afraid so,' replied Unato. 'The Atlantic Federation and the rest of the Earth Alliance have sent a list of demands to the Plants to cease any hostile actions and to surrender all arms or they will have war declared upon them.'

Up in the Plant capital the council were discussing the demands sent by the Earth.

'They can't be serious,' said council member one.

'They blame us for Junius Seven and demand that we surrender when we were the ones that destroyed it,' said council member two.

'But they were the ones that destroyed it first with nukes, remember?' said member three.

'We should ignore these stupid requests,' said member one.

The council then got into a heated discussion until Durandal halted it.

'Council members, please,' said Durandal. 'It's true that these demands are unjust but even if we do agree to them the Earth forces will attack anyway. We should prepare our military strength for defensive purposes only.'

'Agreed,' said the Council.

'Send word to the front line defense commander to prepare for attack,' ordered Durandal.

Back on earth, Heero was looking through some of the hacked files when Zero flashed in his head.

'It's time,' said Heero as he left Wing Zero's cockpit and made his way from the hidden base.

It was almost dusk as Luna was running down the streets of Orb in the pelting rain.

'I'm going to be in so much trouble for being late. Why did I have to stop to look at that shop?' said Luna as she continued to run with her coat over her head to stop the rain. She didn't even notice the rider on the bike as it pulled up.

'Need a lift?' said the rider as Luna turned around to see Heero remove his riding glasses.

Luna walked back up to Heero as he looked at her, waiting for an answer.

'Well?' asked Heero as his eyes moved from her face to her chest.

Luna followed Heero's eyes and saw what he was looking at. The rain had made her white shirt go see-through and her bra was clearly visible. In a hurry Luna put her coat on to cover up and looked back at Heero who looked like he was blushing.

'Thanks,' said Luna as she hopped onto the back on the bike and put her hands on the rear handles.

'Hold on,' said Heero as he revved his Ducati and took off down the street.

'Argh,' screamed Luna as Heero clicked up a gear which caused her to wrap her hands around his waist as tight as she could while resting her head on his back to protect it from the rain.

Heero could feel her pushing into him which made him feel a weird kind of awkward. Before Luna knew it they were back at Onogoro port where Heero pulled up under shelter.

'Thanks,' said Luna as she hopped of off the bike but was cut off by Heero.

'No time for that. Listen you need to tell Gladys to leave immediately. The Earth is about to declare war on the Plants and Orb is going to sign a treaty with the Earth Alliance. But first they are going to offer the Minerva up as a sign of good faith to the Earth Forces fleet that will be here by noon tomorrow. Take this,' said Heero as he handed Luna a piece of paper. 'It's the code to open the port gates.'

'But how do you…'

'There's no time Luna,' said Heero. 'Just tell Gladys what I said.'

And with that, Heero took off and left Luna standing there a little confused. She then gathered herself and ran on board the Minerva to tell the captain what Heero said.

Back up in space the Earth Forces were preparing their attack on the Plants.

'So they refuse to cooperate,' said the Commander. 'No matter, we'll end this war as quickly as it starts. Prepare the attack force.'

'Yes Sir,' said one of the officers.

The Lunar Fleet then launched their ships and mobile suits at the right hand side of the Plants.

'Here they come,' said the Commander of one of the ZAFT ships. 'Dearka, launch and take them out.'

'Right away Yzak,' said a blonde haired, purple eyes pilot in a green mobile suit with a long range gun.

The battle began when the first wave of Earth mobile suits reached the Plants.

'There don't seem to be that many mobile suits,' said Dearka as he destroyed a strike dagger.

'Shut up and do your job Dearka,' said Yzak. 'I'm launching too.'

Meanwhile, a separate attack force was making its way to the Plant capital.

'Sir, a separate attack force has just appeared,' said a radar monitor at the plant defense headquarters.

'What?' asked the Commander.

'There seem to be over one hundred mobile suits and…' paused the monitor as he got a visual. 'They're armed with nukes.'

'Alert the Chairman.'

'Chairman Durandal,' said an aide as he ran into the chairman's office.

'Yes?' asked Durandal.

'There's an attack force heading this way armed with nukes.'

'Deploy the Neutron Stampeder at once,' ordered Durandal.

'Commander Joule,' said the ship's captain.

'What?' asked Yzak.

'There's an attack force heading for the Plant capital armed with nukes.'

'Those bastards, all Joule team members follow me,' said Yzak as he took off for the Plant capital.

'Steady boys, we only get one shot at this,' said the Commander of the Neutron Stampeder.

'Ok, here we go boys, for the preservation of out blue and pure world, this time for sure,' said the crazed pilot of the nuke attack force.

'I'm too late,' cried Yzak as he pushed his mobile suit to its max as he tried to reach the nukes before they launched.

'FIRE!' ordered the Earth Forces commander.

The nuke attack force then launched the nukes at the Plants, unaware of what was about to happen.

'Wait for it, wait for it, NOW!' said the Commander of the Neutron Stampeder as they fired the energy wave.

The beam flew straight as it took out the nukes with ease and kept going.

'Large heat source coming in fast,' said the radar monitor of the Earth Forces fleet.

'What!' cried the commander.

But it was too late. The energy wave destroyed all of the attack force as well as most of the fleets ships.

Down on Earth there were many that looked up to the night sky as they saw the flashes.

'Are those?' asked Lacus.

'Yes,' said Kira as he looked at the sky. 'The flashes of nuclear bombs.'

'So it's begun,' said Heero as he pulled up his bike to look up. He then gunned it to the red line as he headed for Erica's hidden base.

'That was close,' said Durandal as he received the report from the Plant defense commander. 'Next time we may not be as lucky but let's hope that that's stopped them for now.'

'WHAT!' screamed Djibril as he received the report from the attack squad. 'HOW COULD THEY BE WIPED OUT!'

'It appears that they had a defensive weapon waiting for this kind of attack my lord,' said one of the many faces on screen.

'Never mind then. We'll just continue on with our next plan of attack,' said Djibril as he brought up a screen with mobile suit blue prints.

'Captain, the Earth forces just launched an attack on the Plants but we managed to stop them,' said the communications monitor.

'I see,' said Gladys. 'Looks like Heero was telling the truth but I still think we should leave Orb at the time we agreed.'

'WHAT!' exclaimed Shinn. 'They attacked the Plants?'

'Yeah, the report says they used nukes but we stopped them,' said Meyrin as she told everyone in the leisure room what had just happened.

'BASTARDS!' yelled Shinn as he crushed the can of drink in his hand.

'Heero was right,' said Luna to herself but Shinn, Rey and Meyrin heard.

'What do you mean?' asked Rey.

'Heero told me this was going to happen and to tell the captain that we should leave immediately.'

'I see,' replied Rey.

Up in the Plants, Athrun was sitting in a waiting room with the aide that was escorting him. He then got up and said 'I'm just going to wash my face.'

As he was making his way back from the bathroom he heard an all too familiar voice.

'That will be fine gentlemen,' said the voice at the top of the stairs.

As Athrun came into view he couldn't help but gasp at what he say.

'Lacus?' he said as the pink haired girl turned around.

When the girl saw Athrun she suddenly smiled as she ran down the stairs.

'Athrun!' she exclaimed as she gave him a hug. 'You came all this way just to see me.'

'Ah, what?' said Athrun.

'It's time to go Miss Lacus,' said a man in a suit.

'Right, I'll see you later Athrun,' said the Lacus impersonator as she walked off.

'Athrun,' said a voice from behind.

'Hello chairman,' said Athrun with a bow before looking back at where "Lacus" had just been.

'That's right we're supposed to have a meeting,' said Durandal as he looked at Athrun's confused face. 'Is something the matter?'

'I thought I just saw.'

'Yes?'

'Nevermind.'

'Very well, please follow me,' said Durandal as he and his aides escorted Athrun towards the chairman's office.

**Well that's it for chapter 5. Please read and review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Choice**

The next morning the Orb ministers informed Cagalli about the events the previous night.

'You can't be serious,' said Cagalli.

'It's true,' replied Unato. 'The Earth Forces launched an attack on the Plants and the plants defeated the Earth Forces with some type of new energy weapon. Even though the Chairman is stating that they will use their strength for defensive purposes only, the Earth Alliance has no plan on calling off this war.'

'So that's why we've decided to sign the treaty making us allies of the Atlantic Federation,' said Yuna.

'I will not allow Orb to become involved in another war,' said Cagalli.

'So you'd rather us say that we aren't part of this world and cause the Earth Alliance to declare us enemies as well?'

'Yuna, I don't think that…'

'This country isn't your play thing to run on your emotions,' interjected Yuna. 'It's time to start listening to what's best for this nation. You don't want Orb to burn again do you?'

'No, but…'

'We're signing the treaty and that's final.'

After the meeting ended Yuna walked up to Cagalli who was upset about what had just transpired.

'I'm sorry for being hard on you in there,' said Yuna as he put his arm around her shoulders. 'But I can't allow the others to think that you control everything.'

Yuna led Cagalli upstairs and sat her on a chair.

'Would you like something to drink or eat?'

'I'm fine thanks,' said Cagalli.

'You're still so young. But I promise to help look after this country and you, as your husband.'

'Yuna, I,' said Cagalli as she fondled the ring that Athrun had given her. Yuna noticed this.

'You should get some rest. The leader or a nation mustn't be tired,' said Yuna as he kissed Cagalli on the forehead before walking off, leaving her stunned at the sudden development.

Meanwhile, up in the Plants, Chairman Durandal and Athrun sat in his office discussion the events that have unfolded.

'I can't believe that the Earth Forces would resort to those measures so quickly,' said Athrun after Durandal told him about the nuke attack.

'It is terrible, I know,' replied Durandal in his monotone voice. 'But the Plants are sticking by their decision to only use our military power for defensive purposes only.'

'I could imagine that the people would be outraged by this attack and would be demanding revenge.'

'Yes, I have thought of that,' said Durandal as the video monitors all around the Plants showed the Lacus look alike.

'My friends,' said "Lacus". 'I know how you all must feel after the vicious attack by the Earth Forces. But there is no need to start uproar for retaliation. The Chairman is doing everything in his power to ensure your safety and end this war. So please, remember that we are people of peace.'

As "Lacus" finished she started singing and the population of the Plants started discussing what was said.

'She has more power over the people than I could ever hope to have,' said Durandal as he saw the look on Athrun's face. 'She is a true ambassador for peace. Come let me show you something.'

Durandal then led Athrun from his office to a shuttle that took them to the armoury. As they entered, Athrun could see the outline of a mobile suit. As the lights came on, Athrun could see that it resembled the Justice and Aegis in some ways.

'This is our latest machine,' said Durandal. 'The ZGMF-X23S Saviour. It's from the same design as the Impulse and the other mobile suits from armoury one, or so I'm told.'

As Durandal saw Athrun looking at it he continued. 'What if I told you I wanted to give you this machine?'

'What?' said Athrun.

'Of course I couldn't give it to a civilian, but if I gave it to a legendary pilot like Athrun Zala who was suddenly reinstated in ZAFT, would you use it to help bring the end to this war?'

'I don't know,' replied Athrun. 'I gave up that side of my life.'

'But you jumped into a mobile suit when Junius Seven fell.'

'That was under different circumstances.'

'I see, but I'd like you to think about it before making your decision. I'll have someone take you to your residence.'

As Athrun entered the hotel he was hit around the mid-section by a pink haired girl.

'It's so good to see you again Athrun,' said "Lacus".

'Who are you?' asked Athrun.

'I'm Meer Campbell, but when we're in public like this call me Lacus okay.'

'Alright,' replied Athrun as Meer started pulling his arm, making him follow her.

'Let's get something to eat, shall we?'

As Athrun sat down at the dining room table, Meer grabbed the menu and started reading out the meals.

'Would you like chicken or fish, Athrun?' asked Meer.

Athrun's mind was elsewhere but Meer didn't notice.

'By the way, I gave a performance today; did you happen to see it?'

'Yeah, I did,'

'And…'

'You were great, exactly like Lacus.'

'Oh that means so much coming from you Athrun. I know that the real Lacus is unable to be here so I'm just glad that the Chairman chose me to help him out until she returns. So tell me all about her. What are her likes and dislikes?'

Meer kept bombarding Athrun with questions about Lacus all through dinner, with Athrun only paying her half of his attention as he kept on going back to what Durandal had asked of him.

The next morning in Orb, Cagalli is standing at the shrine dedicated to her father and the others that gave their lives.

'I need your help father,' said Cagalli. 'I don't know if I'll be able to stop the others from signing with the Earth Alliance.'

'You know you really shouldn't walk around without a bodyguard,' came Yuna's voice.

'I'm fine,' said Cagalli as Yuna walked up to the memorial.

'You know we really should get you father and the others a better memorial then this,' said Yuna as he closed his eyes and placed his hand on his heart in respect.

'No, he'd like it like this. It's simple.'

As Cagalli and Yuna sat in the limo, Cagalli came right out with what was on her mind.

'I know you want something so you might as well spit it out,'

'You should learn to watch you language,' replied Yuna. 'I came to the memorial to pledge my solemn vow to Lord Uzumi. That I would protect Orb and his daughter with my life.'

'Yuna, it sounds as if you're.'

'It would be perfect if we had the wedding the same day we signed the treaty.'

'But I...'

Yuna noticed Cagalli holding Athrun's ring.

'It never would have worked, he's a coordinator. They're our enemy. That goes for your so called brother as well. Little girl's playtime is over. It's time to start acting like a responsible leader.'

As Athrun stood looking out the window of his apartment in the plants, there came a knock on the door. When Athrun opened it, he was hit by a silver headed man.

'Bastard, what are you doing here?'

'Yzak, Dearka?'

'Long time no see,' said Dearka.

'You asked to go outside, didn't you?' asked Yzak.

'That's right; they said they were sending someone, but you two.'

'Don't start, I got pulled off the front lines thanks to you,' said Yzak. 'And if you say we're going shopping, I'll kill you.'

'I promised myself that I'd visit the shrines of Nicol, Rusty and the others if I ever got the chance to come back here.'

The three former members of the Le Creuset Team arrived at the military cemetery and placed flowers at the grave stones of Miguel, Rusty and other friends that were killed in the first war. When they arrived at Nicol's, Athrun placed that flowers and the three saluted. They stood there for a moment before Yzak spoke.

'You know you can come back to us Athrun. I don't know how much influence I have but I can try and have you reinstated in ZAFT. Come back to your home.'

Back in Orb, a man with a scar on his face was sitting at a radio sending out a coded message.

'Come in Minerva. Orb will soon join the Earth Alliance. You must leave immediately.'

On board the Minerva the radio officer received the message.

'Captain, we're receiving another message from an unknown source.'

'Put him on,' said Gladys. 'This is Captain Gladys of the Minerva. What do you want?'

'Well it's finally nice to hear from someone out there. It's just as I told you. Orb will soon join the Earth Alliance so you will become the enemy of Orb. I'm giving you plenty of warning to get out now why you can,' said the sacred man.

'_Just like Heero said_,' thought Gladys. 'Who are you?'

'You ever heard of someone by the name of Andrew Waltfeld, well I'm doing this on his behalf,' said the man as a snigger came from behind. He turned to see Murrue standing there.

'The Desert Tiger,' said Gladys. 'We understand. Minerva out.'

'What should we do captain?' asked Arthur.

'Seeing how that's the second warning we have gotten to leave Orb, I've decided that we shall leave at dawn tomorrow. Please inform everyone to return to the ship at once and upgrade to condition yellow.'

'Yes man,' replied Arthur.

'Well that went well,' said Murrue as the man shut down the radio. 'Do you think they'll listen?'

'We can only hope,' said Waltfeld.

There two made their way out to the balcony as Waltfeld handed Murrue a cup of coffee.

'I mixed this one with a bit of Hawaiian Cona.'

Murrue took a sip. 'I liked yesterday's better.'

Waltfeld then took a sip himself. 'You know I think I'm beginning to understand your tastes.'

The two stood for a while; letting silence and the sound of the breeze take over.

'You know…' began Waltfeld.

'I...' started Murrue.

'Ladies first, I insist,' said Waltfeld.

'I'd like to hear the gentleman's point of view,' replied Murrue.

'With all that's going on, Kira, Lacus and I were thinking of going to the Plants. It may be the only safe place for Coordinators. We were wondering if you wanted to come with us.'

'That would be nice,' replied Murrue.

Back in the Plants, Athrun sat in his apartment, going over everything that happened. Thoughts of the past war, what Kira, Lacus, Cagalli, Heero, Yzak, and Durandal said, chased each other around his mind until he came to his decision. He walked over to the desk and picked up the phone.

'I'd like to arrange a meeting with Chairman Durandal.'

**That's it for chapter 6. Read and Review.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Flight From Orb**

It was just before dawn and the Minerva was making its final preparations before departure. Cagalli had made her way down to see the captain before it left.

'I'm sorry that it's come to this,' said Cagalli.

'I understand. Your nation is under a lot of pressure and our presence will just make it worse,' said Gladys.

'Thank you for everything Captain Gladys,' replied Cagalli as she left Gladys to her thoughts.

As Cagalli was leaving the Minerva she bumped into Shinn and the others.

'What are you doing here?' asked Shinn nastily.

'Seeing the Captain before you left. To apologize for what happened.'

'If Orb has become our enemy than I'll destroy this country.'

'Shinn..' started Cagalli, but Shinn just stormed off.

'Tell the pilots to report to the briefing room,' ordered Gladys when she arrived at the bridge.

'Yes Mam,' replied Meyrin.

Meanwhile, Heero sat in Wing Zero's cockpit when Erica called out.

'The Minerva is leaving Orb.'

'I see,' said Heero. 'Then it's time for me to leave. Thanks for your help.'

'You're welcome,' replied Erica as Heero powered up Wing Zero and took off for the Minerva.

As the Minerva was making its way out of Orb territory, the Orb fleet quietly followed behind.

'Is everything prepared?' asked Yuna as he walked into the Orb Defence headquarters.

'Yes Sir,' replied and officer. 'The Earth Forces fleet is in position and waiting.'

'Very good.'

As the Minerva just exited the border multiple heat sources showed up on radar.

'Captain, enemy ships ahead,' said Meyrin.

'They were waiting for us,' said Gladys. 'Go to condition red. Lower the bridge.'

'Going to condition red, all pilots board their machines,' came Meyrin's voice over the intercom.

'What's going on?' asked Rey as he powered up his Zaku.

'The Earth Forces set a trap for us,' said Meyrin over video speaker.

'Bastards,' said Shinn as his anger rose.

'The Minerva is in site Sir,' said an officer on the Earth Forces flag ship.

'Fire a barrage then launch the Windams.'

'Yes Sir.'

The Earth Forces Fleet then fired a barrage of shells at the Minerva.

'Incoming missiles,'

'Activate CIWS to auto tracker,' ordered Arthur. 'Activate Tristan and Isolde, load launchers one through five.'

'Have Shinn, Rey and Lunamaria launch at once,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied Meyrin.

The core splender was loaded onto the launch catapault.

'Shinn Asuka, Core Splender, Launching,' said Shinn as he was thrown into the air. The rest of the Impulse followed and Shinn connected them together and attached the Force Silhouette.

'Argh,' yelled Shinn as he charged at the Windams.

'Rey Za Burrel, Zaku, taking off. Lunamaria Hawke, Zaku, I'm heading out,' said Rey and Luna as they moved their mobile suits on top of the Minerva since they can't fly.

'Head towards Orb,' said Gladys. 'They'll take us back in.'

'Yes Mam,' said the pilot.

As the Minerva neared Orb waters the commander of the fleet opened a radio line.

'Attention ZAFT ship Minerva. You have been deemed an enemy of this nation. If you don't change direction we will open fire.'

'They can't be serious,' said Shinn as he destroyed some Windams.

Aboard the Earth forces flag ship, the commander decided to use this situation to his advantage. 'Launch the Zamza-Zah.'

On board one of the ships a large mobile armor that resembled a crab launched into the water and headed towards the battle. The Minerva continued to head towards Orb.

'You have failed to obey the warning. You will now be forcefully removed from Orb. Fire at the Minerva.'

The Orb fleet fired its guns at the Minerva. At the same time, the Earth Forced mobile armor emerged from the water and latched onto the Impulses leg.

'Ah shit,' said Shinn as he cursed himself for being distracted.

'Captain, missiles approaching,' said Meyrin.

'Evade,' said Gladys.

The missiles drew nearer and it looked like they were going to hit. Suddenly, all the ships radars went off as a heat source came into range.

'Heat source coming in fast from stern,' said Meyrin as she looked at the radar. 'Heat pattern matches Wing Zero.'

'So Heero decided to show up,' said Gladys.

As Wing Zero closed in, Heero took in the site of the battle.

'Looks like they're holding in,' said Heero as he transformed into mobile suit mode and blasted the missile with the buster rifle.

'Heero?' said Luna as she looked to see the Wing Zero hovering in mid-air.

'Told you I was going to come back before you left,' said Heero as he turned his attention towards the battle. 'Let's get them Zero.'

Heero launched Wing Zero forward and sliced some Windams in half before opening fire with the machine cannons. At the same time, Shinn was struggling with the Zamza-Zah.

'I've got you,' said the pilot as he dragged the Impulse towards the water.

Heero noticed this and flew towards the mobile amour and sliced the arm that was holding onto the Impulse.

'Pay attention,' said Heero as he turned Wing Zero around to face the Zamza-Zah.

'I'll make you pay for that,' said the Zamza-Zah pilot as he faced Shinn and Heero.

'I've got this one,' said Heero. 'Go defend the ship.'

'Right,' replied Shinn as he flew towards the Minerva.

As the Impulse flew away, the Zamza-Zah made an attempt to go after it, only to be blocked by Heero.

'You're mine,' said Heero as he aimed the buster rifle at the cockpit.

'Activate the shields,' said the pilot, but at that range it didn't matter and the Zamza-Zah was engulfed in flames as Heero fired then, took off after some Windams.

Meanwhile, on the Earth forces and Orb ships, the commanders couldn't help but stare in awe at the power of Wing Zero.

'What kind of mobile suit is that?' asked Yuna as the defence headquarters received a visual.

'I believe it's the one that helped destroy Junius Seven Sir,' said an officer.

Back in the battle Shinn had equipped the Sword Silhouette and was carving up some Windams when the Earth Forces fleet fired at the Minerva. Shinn could only watch as the barrage drew closer to the ship.

'No!' he yelled as he flew after the missiles. 'I won't let it end like this.'

Suddenly his mind became clear as he activated his SEED factor. He threw the Impulse's beam boomerang and managed to take out some missiles while Heero destroyed the rest with Wing Zero.

'Let's take out the fleet,' said Shinn to Heero as the two pilots flew at the fleet while destroying the remaining Windams.

The Earth Forced fleet fell easily to the Impulse and Wing Zero as the Orb fleet and Yuna were stunned at the carnage that the two pilots were carving up. The rest of the battle only lasted three minutes as the last ship fell to the mighty Gundams. The Minerva then sailed away from the battlefield while the Impulse and Wing Zero landed on the ship.

At the Orb Defence Headquarters, Yuna was still stunned but he managed to get out a few words.

'What…just…happened?'

'I believe that was the power of ZAFT,' said an officer as Yuna fainted.

On board the Minerva, the crew members were congratulating Shinn as he exited the Impulse. Rey and Luna ran up to Shinn and thanked him along with the others.

'Wow Shinn, you were great. It looked like you turned into a super ace or something,' said Luna.

'Yes you did well Shinn,' said Rey.

'It was nothing,' replied Shinn trying to be modest.

Shinn then noticed Heero exit Wing Zero and start walking away from the hanger. As Shinn ran up to him, he called out to make him stop.

'Hey Heero.'

Heero stopped and looked at the person that called his name.

'Yes?' asked Heero.

'I'd like to thanks you for your help today. We made a good team.'

'You were careless and allowed yourself to be attacked without realising. If it wasn't for me you'd be dead. You don't deserve to be a pilot, let alone pilot that machine. You're too weak,' said Heero as he turned around.

This made Shinn's anger rise and he started after Heero.

'Why you,' said Shinn as he grabbed Heero's shoulder.

Heero spun around and pinned Shinn's arm behind him as he pushed him against the wall while pulling a gun from his pants and cocking it. Everyone watching stood stunned.

'Like I said, you're too weak. It was your weakness that allowed you to get caught and it was your weakness that killed your family.'

These last words caused Shinn to snap. He pushed off the wall and spun out of Heero's grip and snatched the gun from his hand. Heero wasn't surprised by Shinn's reaction and just stood looking into Shinn's eyes with his gun pointed at his face.

'I'll kill you,' said Shinn through gritted teeth.

'Go ahead, shoot, cause I would've pulled the trigger already,' replied Heero without the slightest bit of fear in his voice.

Shinn could only stare stunned at how calm Heero acted and didn't even notice when Heero grabbed the gun and struck Shinn in the neck causing him to black out and fall to the ground. Heero then continued heading towards the elevator and left the hanger. The others that were watching gathered themselves and rushed up to Shinn.

'Is he alright?' asked Luna as she and the others looked at the unconscious Shinn.

'I think so,' replied Rey. 'I think he's just knocked out. Let's get him to the infirmary.'

Rey, Luna and a couple of the crew members picked up Shinn and carted him off to the medical room. Meanwhile, Gladys and Arthur were discussing the battle that just took place. Arthur was acting like a little school kid when he was talking about what Heero and Shinn did.

'And then Wing Zero came out of nowhere, saves the ship and starts demolishing the battlefield with never before seen power. And then Shinn starts to heat up and he and Heero destroyed the entire Earth Forces fleet by themselves in less than three minutes. Wow.'

Gladys gave Arthur a look that said "calm down" before speaking. 'Yes, we were lucky that Heero showed up when he did, otherwise we would've been in serious trouble. But it was Shinn's performance that stunned me. I've never seen him fight like that before. I guess the Chairman knew what he was doing when he assigned the Impulse to him.'

'Well he is an expert in DNA analysis.'

Up in the Plants, Athrun was standing in Durandal office, wearing the uniform of a ZAFT Red. Meer squealed in delight at the sight of Athrun in the uniform.

'Take this,' said Durandal as he handed Athrun a white badge.

'Faith members wear these,' said Athrun as he took it.

'I want to give you this power so that you're able to do what you need to on the battlefield. I trust in your judgement and ideals Athrun, that's why I am doing all of this.'

After Athrun finished talking with Durandal, he collected the items he needed and headed for the armoury. As he sat in the Saviour's cockpit, he continued to run his plan over and over in his mind to make sure that what he was about to do is correct.

' Athrun Zala, Saviour, Taking off,' said Athrun as he revved up his new mobile suit and headed for Earth.

**That's the end of chapter 7. Hope you enjoyed. Please read and review.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: To The Battlefield Once More**

It was well after dark the same day that the Minerva had fought its way out of Orb. Kira, Lacus and the others were sleeping peacefully in Reverend Malchio's estate. Unaware of what was about to happen.

Down on the beach, a group of men dressed in black scuba gear, came ashore and pulled out machine guns and night vision gear.

'Remember, we don't leave until she is dead, and don't leave any traces,' said one of the men.

'Yes Sir,' replied the other members of the squad.

As the men approached the house, Lacus' Haro sensed the men and started to activate its alarm.

'I don't like this, I don't like this,' said the Haro as it bounced around.

Murrue and Waltfeld awoke from the noise and grabbed their clothes and guns as they exited their rooms.

'I wonder who our friends are?' said Waltfeld when he saw Murrue. 'You grab Lacus and the kids, I'll get the others.'

'Right,' replied Murrue as she took off.

Kira had heard the noises coming from the house and walked out of his room just as Waltfeld arrived.

'What's going on?' asked Kira sleepily.

'We've got company, get dressed and go protect Lacus.'

Meanwhile, Murrue had arrived at the room where Lacus was sleeping with the orphans.

'Miss Lacus,' said Murrue as she woke up the pink princess.

'What is it?' asked Lacus sleepily.

'Alright everyone up,' said Murrue so that all of the children woke up.

The door on the other side of the room opened and Kira stood there with his mother and Reverend Malchio.

'Let's head to the shelter,' said Murrue.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a window breaking and gun shots. Waltfeld had thrown one of the men through the window and the others opened fire on him. As Kira, Lacus and the others were heading towards the shelter; a man appeared at one of the windows and started shooting. Murrue returned fire and told the group to keep moving.

Meanwhile, Waltfeld was pinned down in a fire fight or his own. He flipped over a table and decided to retreat. As he entered the next room, one of the men attacked from behind and shoved a knife into Waltfeld's left arm. As the two men struggled, Waltfeld kicked the other backwards and the arm the knife was in came off. The man looked at the arm then looked back at Waltfeld only to see a gun where the arm was. Waltfeld shot the man and proceeded to pick his arm back up. As he was about to leave, the radio went off.

'They're in the west wing of the house. She's only protected by one woman with a gun.'

Waltfeld then proceeded to that part of the house.

Murrue was firing at some men when Waltfeld rolled into the room.

'It's Mr Waltfeld,' said Kira as he saw the Desert Tiger appear.

Murrue and Waltfeld dispatched the assailants easily and moved towards the shelter. As they were unlocking the door one of the men was only wounded and aimed his gun at Lacus. Just as he was about to fire, the Haro jumped into his face and Kira saw him.

'Lacus,' yelled Kira as he dove to knock Lacus out of the way while Murrue and Waltfeld killed him.

'Into the shelter, now,' said Waltfeld as he stood at the door while the group ran in.

As the doors finished closing, the group of men had arrived.

'Damn, we let them get in, no matter, bring up the Ash's, we'll bring the bunker down on top of them,' said the Commander.

The men then ran back to the beach and jumped into their green mobile suits. Back in the shelter, Kira, Murrue and Waltfeld were discussing the attack.

'They were after her,' said Waltfeld indicating Lacus. 'I heard them mention it.'

'But who would want to hurt Lacus?' asked Kira.

'I don't know but they weren't naturals that's for sure,' replied Murrue.

'You're right, they were coordinator special forces,' said Waltfeld.

Lacus had overheard the conversation and walked up to the three talking.

'Kira, Ms Murrue, Mr Waltfeld, they were after me weren't they?' asked Lacus.

'Yes,' said Kira as he put his arms around Lacus in a protective embrace.

Suddenly, explosions could be heard as the assassins were using their mobile suits to attack the house.

'Into fallout shelter,' said Waltfeld as the group ran into the shelter capable of stopping a nuclear blast.

As they stood there listening to the explosions Waltfeld turned to Lacus.

'Lacus, do you have them?'

Lacus knew what he meant.

'No,' she said as she looked at Kira.

'It's alright Lacus. I want to do it,' said Kira.

'You don't have to,'

'Do you want us to all die?' asked Waltfeld getting impatient.

'No but I don't want Kira to fight either.'

'But I want to protect you. So give me the keys.'

Lacus reluctantly gave in and the Haro opened its mouth to reveal two keys. Kira took them and he and Waltfeld unlocked the door to the hanger. There stood the Freedom in all its glory and Kira started to walk up to it as the doors closed behind him. Lacus just stood there watching with sadness in her eyes as she knew lives could be taken shortly.

Kira powered up the Freedom and took off through the roof of the underground hanger. As the Ash pilots were firing at the house, they noticed and explosion to their right.

'What was that?' asked the commander.

He got his answer as the Freedom flew into the air and activated its Phase Shift and spread its wings.

'It's the Freedom,' said one of the pilots in fear. 'But how?'

Kira then went into his SEED mode as he flew at the attacking force, disabling some of the Ash's with the beam sabre.

'Open fire,' ordered the commander.

The Ash's started firing at Kira but he easily dodged the attack and activated full burst mode and disabled another five suits. The command unit stood surrounded by his useless team. Kira landed the Freedom behind the final suit and shot off the arms, legs and head. The commander activated the self-destruct and all of the suits blew up. The group emerged from the shelter after the fighting had stopped and saw the destroyed mobile suits as the sun started to rise.

It was well into mid-morning as Kira and the others were walking amongst the ruins of the house while discussing the attack and whether or not the Chairman had anything to do with it.

'Hopefully Athrun will have some answers when he gets back from the Plants,' said Kira.

Just then a car arrived at the house and a lady hoped out.

'Oh dear,' said the lady as she took in the sight of the house.

'Master Kira,' she called as she started walking towards what used to be the door.

'It's Myrna,' said Kira as he and the others walked outside. 'What is it?'

'It's Lady Cagalli, Master Kira,' said Myrna. 'The poor dear has known since she was a little girl that she would have to marry Yuna Seiran. But she is being forced to do so now, and there's no one to stick up for her. She asked me to give you this.'

Myrna handed Kira a letter and as he read it his face was full of shock. As he read the last bit, he tipped up the envelope and the ring that Athrun had given Cagalli fell out.

'What are you going to do?' asked Myrna.

'I have a plan,' replied Kira. 'It's time that we left.

Murrue and Waltfeld spent the next few hours getting the Archangel reading for deployment while the rest of the ship's crew arrived. Meanwhile Kira and Lacus were saying goodbye to the orphans and the others.

'Take care Kira,' said his mom.

'I'll be fine,'

'Just remember that this will always be your home, and I love you.'

'Oh mom,' said Kira as he embraced his mom and walked onto the Archangel with Lacus.

'All systems green,' said Newman. 'Ready to take off.'

As Waltfeld entered the bridge, Murrue became somewhat bashful at what she said next.

'I think you should sit in this seat,' said Murrue to Waltfeld as she indicated the Captain's chair.

'You're the only one who should sit in that chair, besides, I'm the only other pilot we've got, Ms Murrue.'

'Alright,' replied Murrue as she sat back in the chair she hadn't sat in for two years. 'Take us away Newman.'

'Archangel taking off,' said Newman as he released the ship from the clamps and fired up the boosters.

Meanwhile, Cagalli sat in her room at the Seiran estate while waiting to be taken to her wedding. She constantly looked at the finger where Athrun's ring once was.

'It's time Lady Cagalli,' said a chaperone.

Cagalli reluctantly rose from her seat and followed the chaperone down the stairs to where Yuna stood waiting.

'You look beautiful Cagalli,' said Yuna. 'Though I do wish you'd let your hair grow.'

The two then hopped into the limo and drove through the crowded streets towards the site of the wedding.

'Smile Cagalli,' said Yuna as he started to get annoyed with her sad expression. 'We're on national television.'

Cagalli rose her head and looked out the window of the car and started to wave at the people of Orb while tears rolled down her face.

Meanwhile, aboard the Minerva. Luna was deciding whether she should confront Heero about what he did to Shinn. She made up her mind and headed for the hanger where she knew he would be. As she reached Wing Zero, she took the scissor lift up to the cockpit and saw Heero looking at a screen.

'Heero I…' started Luna but Heero cut her off.

'Be quiet for a minute,' said Heero without taking his eyes off of the screen.

'What are you doing?'

'Watching a show.'

Luna was intrigued by what Heero meant, and did what no one else had done and entered the Wing Zero's cockpit. As she kneeled next to Heero, some blurred images and a muffled voice went through her mind. Once they passed she shook her head and looked at Heero.

'What was that?' she asked.

Heero looked at her in surprise but didn't get time to answer as the screen came alive.

'We're here at beautiful Onogoro Island to witness the marriage between Lady Cagalli and Yuna Roma Seiran of the Orb Union. And as you can see the couple in question have arrived and are making their way to the alter as we speak.'

The screen showed the wedding procedure and came to the climax.

'Do you, Yuna Roma Seiran take Cagalli Yula Atha to be your lawfully wedded wife?' asked the Priest.

'I do.'

'And do you, Cagalli Yula Atha take Yuna Roma Seiran to be your lawfully wedded husband?'

Cagalli didn't answer straight away but stood in scilence.

'As you can see it appears that Lady Cagalli is getting cold feet,' said the reporter. 'What was that?'

On the screen, Heero and Luna could see the guards pointing at the sky as the Freedom arrived and scooped lady Cagalli up and flew away.

'As you just witnessed the legendary Freedom from Jachin Due has just abducted the Chief Representative.'

'The wild card is now in play,' said Heero as he shut off the screen.

'What do you mean?' asked Luna as Heero forgot she was there.

'You'll find out shortly,' replied Heero as he turned to look at Luna.

'And what was that voice and those images?'

'That was Zero. He showed you a possible future.'

'But it was blurry.'

'It means your destiny is not yet set.'

'Did you see anything?'

'I always see things. I just pay attention to what is important. Now you wanted something.'

'I wanted to know why you did that to Shinn.'

'Because he needs a reason to fight until he falls.'

'What do you mean?'

'Duo Maxwell once said we fight to survive or for revenge, then when we fall we fight to protect the one we love. I made Shinn hate me so he'll fight to prove me wrong until he falls.'

'Have you ever fallen, Heero?'

Heero was about to answer when a voice called up.

'Hey sis, want to get some lunch?' came Meyrin's voice.

'Sure,' replied Luna. 'Want to come?'

'Maybe some other time,' replied Heero.

And as Luna exited the cockpit Heero spoke again.

'Luna.'

Luna looked at Heero and smiled as she left the cockpit and sent the scissor lift to the ground.

Back at Orb, the Freedom was flying away from the island when the radar went off.

'Sorry about this,' said Kira as he shifted Cagalli from the Freedom's hands to the cockpit. 'This is some dress.'

'Shut it,' said Cagalli.

'Hold that thought,' said Kira as he came upon two Murasame's.

'Stop and return the Representative,' said one of the pilots.

'No can do,' replied Kira as he disabled the two mobile suits.

Back at Orb Defence Headquarters, Yuna sent out an order to the Orb fleet.

'Stop that machine at all costs, Todaka,'

'Yes Sir,' replied Todaka from the flag ship.

Just then the Archangel rose from the water as the Freedom neared the ship.

'What should we do Sir?' asked an officer.

'We are in no situation to attack,' replied Todaka as he watched the Freedom land on the ship and saluted as the Archangel submerged.

'_Our hopes are in your hands now Freedom_,' thought Todaka as the ship disappeared.

**That's it for this chapter. Please read and review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility**

The Minerva arrived at the base of Carpentaria two days after it left Orb. The crew felt a bit more at ease when the ship docked in friendly waters. Since they hadn't received any further instructions, Gladys decided that the crew could take some time off.

'It's such a relief to finally be in ZAFT territory,' said Arthur. 'I wonder what our first mission will be?'

'I've been informed that someone is on their way from headquarters with our instructions,' replied Gladys.

Meanwhile, Athrun in the Saviour had just entered Orb air space when he received a message.

'Unknown fighter, you have entered Orb territory, inform us of your actions or be fired upon.'

'This is ZAFT special forces member Athrun Zala. I'm looking for the Minerva.'

'You think we're stupid, we don't know any Athrun Zala besides the Minerva has been out of Orb for two days now.'

'What?' said Athrun. 'Then this is Alex Dino of the Atha family. I'd like to speak to the representative.'

'The representative isn't here, she was abducted during her wedding.'

'What?' asked Athrun again.

'You haven't made your intentions clear, prepare to be attacked.'

'I don't have time,' said Athrun as he turned the Saviour into mobile suit mode, sliced the two Murasame's and flew off in fighter mode.

'I'll try Carpentaria,' said Athrun as he flew towards the Oceania Union.

It was around noon and Shinn was walking towards the port when he saw a red mobile suit fly overhead. He ran towards the Minerva just as the mobile suit landed.

As the suit landed in the hanger, the crew man stood in shock at the sudden appearance of the suit. Heero didn't even bother to look up as he continued to go through the files he stole from the Carpentaria mainframe.

'Who is that?' asked Luna as the cockpit opened.

She got her answer as the pilot lowered himself to the ground.

'Athrun?' said Luna as he took off his helmet.

'Athrun Zala, Faith member, requesting permission to come aboard,' said Athrun as the group saluted him.

'Did you see?' asked Shinn as he ran to the group and saw Athrun. 'What are you doing here?'

'Show some respect, he's a member of Faith,' said Luna.

Shinn noticed the badge and did up his uniform while saluting. Athrun saluted back before speaking.

'Would someone please escort me to the captain?'

'I wi…' began Meyrin before Luna cut her off.

'I will Sir,' said Luna.

Athrun nodded. 'Heero Yuy can you please come with me, there's something of importance for you to hear.'

'Roger that,' said Heero as he lowered himself to the ground.

As the three stood in the elevator, Heero spoke first.

'So you re-joined ZAFT then?'

'Yes after what you said and the chairman I thought it was the right thing to do.'

'I see. By the way, your girlfriend got abducted by the Freedom before she could say I do to Yuna.'

'I heard she was abducted, but the Freedom?'

'Yeah and I suppose the Archangel too.'

Luna stood there in silence as she listened to the two pilots talk. As they arrived at the captain's office, Athrun dismissed Luna and he and Heero entered.

Athrun saluted Gladys and handed her the briefcase he was given. Gladys looked over the contents and looked back at Athrun.

'Do you know what our orders are?'

'No Mam, I was given no instruction.'

'Well it seems to me that you've been assigned to the Minerva, and the Chairman has made me a member of Faith. He has also requested that Heero Yuy be assigned to the Minerva as a mercenary until further notice.'

Heero just nodded his head in acknowledgement.

'It also says that we are to head to Gibraltar by way of Turquious.'

'Yes Mam,' replied Athrun.

'Well we're here in Carpentaria until repairs are done so I suggest that you enjoy yourself until we leave.'

'Yes Mam,' replied Athrun as he saluted and left the room with Heero.

Back in the hanger, the crewman were given the maintenance plans for the saviour and told to study it carefully. Athrun was sitting in the Saviours cockpit, going through some diagnostics when Luna stuck her head in.

'Yes?' asked Athrun.

'I just wanted to say that I'm Lunamaria Hawke, pilot of a ZAKU Warrior,' said Luna.

'Nice to meet you.'

'So this is one of those new transformable mobile suits?'

'That's right.

Across from the Saviour, Heero was sitting in Wing Zero's cockpit when he looked up from his work from the loud sound that Luna was making as she talked to Athrun. As he looked at the Saviour, he could see Luna kneeling on the cockpit door and her mini skirt had ridden up a bit. Heero felt the blood start to rise in his face at the sight in front of him and looked down when he saw Luna stand up and turn around. Luna saw Heero's head dip just as she turned around and noticed a bit of red on his face. She realised what he was blushing at and thought it was cute that he was so bashful.

'Did you want to sit in it?' asked Athrun.

'Can I?' asked Luna in reply.

'Yeah, just don't touch anything.'

Athrun got out of the cockpit and Luna got it and immediately started commenting on everything.

'The mode selector panel is different and it uses different types of plug-ins.'

'That's right.'

'It's different to Wing Zero's cockpit, there's less buttons.'

'How do you know that?' asked Athrun in shock at what Luna said.

'Well I had gone to see Heero about why he hit Shinn and he told me to be quiet as he was watching something. So I hopped in the cockpit to see Cagalli's wedding and apparently Zero spoke to me.'

'What did Heero say about that?'

'That Zero showed me a possible future but it was blurry which Heero said was because my future wasn't set.'

'I see,' replied Athrun.

The next day, the Minerva left Carpentaria and set out across the Indian Ocean for the port of Turquious, while escorted by a ZAFT subamarine. Meanwhile, a couple hours away, an Earth Forces fleet sat waiting.

'Looks like the intel was correct,' said a man in a mask as he looked at the image of the Minerva and its projected course. 'Prepare the pilots.'

'Yes Sir,' said an officer.

On board the ship, a blonde haired girl sat on the deck, watching the ocean. Two earth forces soldiers saw her and one walked up.

'Hey there pretty lady, what are you looking at?'

'The sea, I like looking at it.'

'How about you come back to my room and tell me what you like looking at?'

Suddenly the man was jumped from behind and a blue haired boy pulled a gun.

'You better not, she may look like a ditz, but when she gets going she's a handful. You see me and my friend are part of Phantom Pain.'

The two men backed off in fear and ran away. The blue haired boy turned to the blonde.

'Come on Stellar, Neo is looking for us.'

At the sound of that, Stellar smiled and walked after the blue haired boy.

'It sounded like we're going into battle. I wonder how many I can kill?'

'Yeah,' replied Stellar.

Meanwhile the Minerva was sailing close to where Phantom Pain was waiting when the radar went off.

'Captain, unknown ship on radar,' said Meyrin.

'Go to condition yellow, tell the pilots to report to the briefing room,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam. Going to condition yellow, all pilots report to the briefing room,' came Meyrin's voice over the loudspeakers.

The Earth Forces fleet, picked up the Minerva on radar.

'Go to level one battle stations,' ordered Neo. 'Tell the base to send out all Windams.'

Neo then headed towards the hanger as the officer sent out the message.

'I can't believe I have to stay behind,' said Stellar gloomily as she stood with the blue haired boy and a green haired one.

'It can't be helped, the Gaia can't swim or fly,' said the blue haired boy.

'I'm sorry too Stellar,' said Neo as he entered the hanger.

'Neo,' said Stellar as she ran up to the man in the mask.

'You'll stay behind and protect the ship,' said Neo.

'Sir, the base commander is on the line,' said the officer.

'We can't possibly send out all our Windams, we'll be defenceless,' said the base commander.

'I'm leaving the Gaia behind to protect it.'

'One mobile suit?'

'Yes and that's final,' said Neo as he cut the line. 'Launch all mobile suits.'

'Yes Sir,' said the officer.

Back on the Minerva, the radar picked up the heat signals of the enemy mobile suits.

'Send out the mobile suits,' ordered Gladys. 'And go to condition red.'

'Going to condition red, going to condition red, all pilots board their machines,' said Meyrin.

'Lower the bridge,' ordered Gladys. 'Get me Athrun.'

'Yes,' asked Athrun as he sat in the Saviour.

'I don't have the authority to send you or Heero out, it's up to you,' said Gladys.

'I'll launch,' replied Athrun as he looked as Wing Zero. 'I guess Heero is too.'

Heero had already entered the launch catapult.

'Heero Yuy, Wing Zero, Launching,' said Heero as he was flung into the air.

The other mobile suits followed. As Heero, Athrun and Shinn flew towards the enemy, Zero took in all the data and projected the most likely outcome to Heero.

'Looks like fifty Windams, the Chaos, and the Abyss. Battle time, no more than thirty minutes,' said Heero over the radio.

'No one can destroy that many machines in thirty minutes,' said Shinn.

'I was only counting on one from you,' retorted Heero to make Shinn fire up.

The three mobile suits charged at the enemy and Heero destroyed five Windams with the buster rifle before swapping to the beam sabre. The Chaos appeared on radar and charged at the Saviour.

'I've got him,' said Athrun as he engaged the Chaos while Shinn and Heero continued their destruction of the enemy.

'This guy is good,' said the green haired Chaos pilot as he continued his battle with the Saviuor.

As the battle started to get close to a nearby island, Wing Zero's search eye picked up the nearby base.

'Shinn, go take out that base,' ordered Heero as he destroyed some more Windams.

'Why don't you do it?' Shinn spat back.

'Just do it Shinn,' ordered Athrun in frustration as he fought the Chaos.

'Fine,' said Shinn as he flew towards the base.

A purple Windam saw Shinn move and flew to intercept.

'No,' said Neo as he engaged the Impulse.

'This guy is tough,' said Shinn as he dodged an attack.

Stellar was watching nearby and when she saw the Impulse attack the purple Windam, she charged forward.

'Neo,' she said as she crashed the Gaia into the Impulse.

The purple Windam withdrew as the Gaia engaged the Impulse.

'You,' said Shinn as he saw the Gaia. 'I'm going to take you down today.'

The two mobile suits clashed and the duel pushed them closer to the base. As the Gaia knocked the Impulse down Shinn saw a bunch of people separated by a fence. He then saw the Earth Forces soldiers shoot down some of the men trying to escape.

'Monsters,' said Shinn as he fired at the soldiers.

The Gaia then attacked the Impulse but Shinn reacted and sliced off the Gaia's arm. The Gaia withdrew and returned to the ship.

Meanwhile in the water, the Abyss was destroying all of the underwater mobile suits that the sub had deployed.

'Your machines are no match for me,' said the blue haired boy.

Back in the air the Saviour continued to battle the Chaos while Wing Zero made short work of the Windams. Heero then noticed a barrage of missiles fly at the Minerva. Luna tried to shoot them down but the gun was out of energy. Heero flew in and intercepted the missiles.

'Are you ok?' asked Heero.

'Yes,' replied Luna. 'But my gun pack is out of energy.'

'Drop your pack,' said Heero as he separated the buster rifle into two. 'Take this but only fire at one quarter max or the impact will destroy your suit.'

'Alright,' said Luna as she took the rifle and fired at some Windams while Heero took off to the main attack force.

Back on the island, Shinn was destroying that base, attacking every Earth Forces weapon. Neo noticed this and ordered a retreat.

'But why?' asked the blue haired boy in the Abyss.

'Because we failed to achieve our objective, Auel' replied Neo.

'You mean you lost,' retorted Auel.

'You didn't get a big target either,'

'Then I'll get one,' said Auel as he headed towards the sub.

Up in the air, the Windams and the Chaos were retreating and Shinn was continuing his destruction of the base.

'That's enough Shinn, the enemy is retreating, return to the ship,' ordered Athrun.

Shinn didn't listen as he removed the two fences and allowed the people to reunite with each other. Shinn smiled at the sight of the happy families. As they three suits were heading back to the Minerva, Auel was charging forward, undetected by the sonar. Zero picked it up and Heero fired the buster rifle at the Abyss.

'What the?' asked Auel as the engine started to cut out and the Abyss surfaced. 'Damnit.'

He then returned to the ships while Athrun and Shinn looked in astonishment that Heero was able to hit the underwater target.

On board the Minerva, Shinn had just landed on the hanger floor when Athrun walked up and hit him in the face. The people in the hanger could only stare at what Athrun did.

'You want to hit me, go ahead, I don't care. I helped those people,' said Shinn.

'You don't get it. The power you have isn't something you can use whenever you want. When you pilot that mobile suit you have a greater responsibility than any other. I suggest you remember that,' said Athrun as Shinn stormed off with Rey and Luna in toe.

Heero looked down from his cockpit and nodded at Athrun as the Minerva continued on its path.

**That's it for chapter 9. Please read and review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Attack The Lohengrin**

The following week, the Minerva arrived at Mahamul base and was greeted by commander Joachim Ruddle.

'Welcome to Mahamul base. I'm commander Joachim Ruddle,' said Ruddle while saluting.

'I'm captain Tahlia Gladys,' said Gladys while returning the salute.

'Excutive Officer Arthur Trine,' said Arthur while doing the same.

'Faith member Athrun Zala,' said Athrun while Ruddle and his accompanying officers stared.

'Zala? Forgive me I never thought we'd see one of the legendary pilots from Jachin Due here,' said Ruddle. 'If you would follow me there are some things we need to discuss.'

Gladys, Arthur, Athrun and Heero, followed Ruddle to the Mahamul base headquarters, while the rest of the crew remained aboard the Minerva.

Meanwhile, underneath the ocean, the Archangel sat while waiting for some sign to act. The screen showed multiple news programs from around the world.

'Any developments?' asked Cagalli as she entered the bridge.

'Nothing,' replied Murrue. 'All we ever get is the same stuff about why the war is important and slander upon the Plants.'

'The Plants aren't much better either,' said Lacus as she brought up a screen. 'All they ever show is this.'

The members of the bridge could only gasp at the sight of the Lacus impersonator.

'I wish we could do something about it,' said Cagalli.

'I know but we'd be moving too soon,' replied Murrue.

'I don't trust that Durandal guy,' said Kira. 'He has a Lacus impersonator and a squad of coordinators tried to kill the real Lacus. I just wish that Athrun would return soon with some news.'

'I wonder where he is right now?' asked Cagalli more to herself.

Athrun in question was sitting in a meeting with Gladys, Arthur, Ruddle and Heero. A holographic map of the area was displayed.

'As you can see your path to Gibraltar is blocked by an Earth Forces battery, protected by a giant positron cannon and a mobile armour. We have tried countless times to get passed but we have been defeated every time.'

'I take it that you want us to destroy this battery before we continue to Gibraltar?' asked Heero.

'And who are you?' asked Ruddle.

'This is Heero Yuy. He is part of the Minerva under direct request from the Chairman. He also helped destroy Junius Seven,' said Gladys.

'I see. Yes that is the plan,' said Ruddle. 'We must stop the oppression of this part of Eurasia.'

'Understood,' said Gladys. 'I now see why the Chairman sent us this way.'

'We plan to attack the day after tomorrow once we gather our full strength. I suggest you use this time to repair and relax,' said Ruddle.

Back on the ship, Shinn was standing on the bow, staring at the sun setting over the ocean. His thoughts were disturbed when Athrun appeared.

'What do you want?' asked Shinn.

'Nothing, I just came out for some air,' replied Athrun.

'I see,' said Shinn.

The two stood in silence for a while before Athrun spoke.

'Was it your family's death that made you want more power?'

'What do you mean?'

'By not being able to protect your family, you wanted power to ensure that it never happened again. I know. I was the same when my mother died on Junius Seven.'

Shinn couldn't speak as he just looked at Athrun while thoughts of his past and why he joined ZAFT. Athrun was speaking the truth but he wouldn't admit it.

'But now that you have that power what do you intend to do with it?'

'Do as you said, protect and ensure that the mistakes of the past don't repeat themselves,'

'But there's a difference between revenge and protection.'

'I know that. If I wanted revenge I would've destroyed Orb.'

'I see, so you're still going to hold a vendetta against Orb until you let it go.'

'I'll never let it go. Never,' said Shinn as he walked away leaving Athrun to his own thoughts.

Night had fallen and Luna was in the shower while talking to Meyrin.

'And he still hasn't spoken to the two of them since,' said Meyrin.

'Yeah that Shinn is so stubborn sometimes. He just refused to listen to Athrun or Heero.'

'Yeah and the two of them are so cool and mature,' said Meyrin as she tried to put on her sister's mini skirt but threw it away in frustration.

'I don't know about mature. I mean Athrun is only a year older than me, I think. But Heero is younger than me and he speaks like he's way older.'

'And he's so cute too,' said Meyrin as she went into the other shower stall.

'I guess he is. His eyes are nice but so cold,' replied Luna as an image of Heero and his cold blue eyes came into her mind.

The day for the attack had arrived and the Minerva along with the ZAFT forces from Mahamul base, traveled to the rendezvous point with the resistance fighter. A jeep with a lone person was waiting for them in a nearby ravine. The Minerva slowed down and the jeep drove up the landing platform.

The pilots from the Minerva and ZAFT forces sat in the Minerva briefing room as the Arthur and Athrun walked in, accompanied by a small girl.

'As you know we are planning to attack an Earth Forces battery here,' said Arthur as he pointed to a map on the screen. 'Over to you commander Zala.'

'Right. As you know the battery is guarded by a positron cannon and mobile armour similar to the one that you fought when you left Orb. Our mission is…'

'You want us to fly in, destroy the mobile armour and the cannon, right?' interjected Shinn.

'That's right,' replied Athrun a little ticked off.

'I can take those out easily by myself.'

'Would you do that for us? Don't forget to tell us when you're done,' said Athrun sarcastically.

'I…' began Shinn while the others laughed at him.

'Over to you miss Coniel.'

The little girl walked up to the front of the room.

'There is a hidden passage through this mountain that only the locals know about. It exits right where the battery is located,' said Coniel.

'The plan is to draw the mobile armour and mobile suits away from the battery and allow the pilot to fly through undetected and destroy the cannon. Miss Coniel, that is the pilot,' said Athrun as he pointed to Shinn.

'That loud mouth, why don't you do it?'

'Yeah why don't you?' asked Shinn angrily.

'Because I think that you've got what it takes to do it otherwise I would, got it. It's time to use that power properly,' said Athrun. 'We attack in an hour.'

Shinn looked down at Athrun's last words to him as he knew what he meant. He then took the data from Coniel and exited the room after Athrun dismissed them. As Heero went to leave the room, Athrun held him back.

'If Shinn doesn't get there in time, I'll need you to destroy it instead.'

'Roger that, but he'll get there in time, Zero said so,' replied Heero as he left the room.

The time for the attack arrived and Shinn was waiting in the core splendour waiting for the order to launch.

'Go ahead Shinn,' said Meyrin.

'Shinn Asuka, Core Splendour, Launching,' said Shinn as he launched from the Minerva and flew towards the hidden passage that the data indicated with the rest of the Impulse following.

The rest of the mobile suits from the Minerva and ZAFT ships launched and flew to engage the enemy. The Earth forces were ready and the Lohengrin started firing at the oncoming attack.

'Wow,' said Heero as he dodged the blast and fired at the mobile armour only to have the shield block the attack. 'Might be tricky at this range.'

Meanwhile, in the passage, Shinn was having difficulty flying the projected route.

'Nobody said anything about it being pitch black. That bastard just didn't want to fly it himself.'

Back in the battle the ZAFT forces were having trouble dealing with the mobile armour.

'Heero, can you get in close?' asked Athrun.

'Roger that,' said Heero as he gunned at the mobile armour.

He fired the machine cannons at the ground which sent a cloud of dust over the mobile armour blocking its vision. Heero then flew in point blank range and fired the buster rifle and blew up the mobile armour.

As the debri from the explosion settles, the Lohengrin used the distraction to fire at the unguarded Minerva. The Minerva didn't have time to react as the blast from the cannon drew nearer.

'It's gonna hit,' said the radar operator.

Suddenly the Wing Zero appeared in front of the ship and he fired the buster rifle at the cannon fire, connecting and causing a massive explosion which sent up lots of dust and debri.

'Where's Wing Zero?' asked Gladys as the dust settled and she couldn't see Heero.

'He landed near the cliff next to us,' said Meyrin as the IFF showed his location.

'Are you alright Heero?' asked Luna in concern.

'Yeah, just got knocked about from that blast,' he replied as he stood Wing Zero back up and went straight back to the battle.

Meanwhile, Athrun used this event to rally the ZAFT troops and head for the cannon.

'Lower the Lohengrin,' said the battery commander.

Suddenly, and explosion rocked the ground as Shinn flew out of the passage and joined up the Impulse. He then survived the battlefield and headed straight for the Lohengrin. Athrun and Heero followed, providing support. As Shinn noticed the cannon being lowered he grabbed hold of a mobile suit and threw it at the cannon and opened fire with the Impulse's Vulcans. The explosion caused the entire battery to be engulfed in flames.

The ZAFT forces and the Minerva entered the city and saw the town members capturing the remaining Earth Alliance soldiers. As the Impulse, Saviour and Wing Zero landed, Athrun walked up to Shinn, who couldn't help but smile.

'We did it,' said Shinn.

'No you did it, with your power,' replied Athrun. 'Let's go.'

As the three mobile suits flew towards the Minerva, Shinn continued to smile as he saw the town's people celebrate their liberation.

**Another chapter down. Please read and review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The enemy revealed**

As Athrun, Heero, Luna and Meyrin disembarked from the ship they noticed a large crown gathered in front of a stage.

'Wonder what's going on?' asked Luna.

'No idea,' replied Athrun.

They got their answer when a large pink ZAKU, escorted by two normal ones, landed behind the stage.

'Hello everyone, it's me, Lacus Clyne,' said Meer over the speakers.

The crowd then let up a loud cheer.

'I'd like to thank all of you courageous ZAFT soldiers for your service to Chairman Durandal.'

The crowd then let up another loud cheer as Meer started singing.

'Looks like your girlfriends here,' said Heero.

'Yeah,' replied Athrun.

Suddenly, two crewmen ran past the small group and bumped into Meyrin and Luna. Both of the girls lost their balance as Meyrin fell into Athrun and Luna fell backwards before Heero caught her.

'You right?' asked Heero as he pulled Luna back to her feet.

'Yeah, thanks,' replied Luna.

'Looks like your girlfriend is causing a small riot,' said Heero.

'Yeah, let's move over there,' said Athrun as he started walking towards some shipping containers with his arm around Meyrin's waist.

Luna noticed this and grabbed hold of Heero's arm as they started walking. As Heero felt the sudden grip he looked over and thought about telling Luna off, but again he couldn't do it for some reason.

As the rest of the Minerva's crew watched the concert, Arthur couldn't help but dance to the music in joy.

'Who would've thought that Lacus Clyne would be here,' said Arthur.

'Yes it seems to be too much of a coincidence,' replied Gladys as she noticed Durandal get off a shuttle.

Then an orange headed man walked up to Gladys and Rey.

'The Chairman would like me to escort you to lunch,' said the man.

'Very well,' replied Gladys as she and Rey followed the man to a car.

The car travelled to an ancient building where Durandal was waiting for them.

'Thalia how nice to see you,' said Durandal.

'You too Chairman,' replied Gladys.

'And Rey, how have you been?'

Rey only smiled and flung his arms around Durandal in joy.

'Gilbert,' he said as he closed his eyes and Durandal embraced him.

Back at the concert, the three phantom pain pilots were watching the concert before driving off.

'We'll let those coordinators have their fun before we destroy them,' said the green haired one as he drove.

'You think that Neo will have us attack, Sting?' asked Auel from the back.

'Maybe, he just wanted reconnaissance for now,' replied Sting as they rounded a bend and Stellar started to stare at the ocean.

As the concert ended, Shinn, Luna, Athrun, Heero and Meyrin were making their way back to the ship when they were pulled up by the orange headed man.

'Excuse me, the Chairman would like you four pilots to join him for lunch today.'

'Alright,' they replied as they followed the orange headed man to the limo that was waiting.

As they got to the lunch site, Durandal was waiting to greet them as the orange headed man escorted them up the stairs.

'Ah Athrun, how nice to see you again,' said Durandal as he shook Athrun's hand.

'You too Chairman,' replied Athrun.

'And who are you?' asked Durandal as he held his hand out to the others.

'I'm Lunamaria Hawke,' said Luna.

'Shinn Asuka,' said Shinn as he took the Chairman's hand.

'Ah yes I've heard all about your heroics from the Armoury One incident to the latest battle at Mahamul. I believe that there is a medal waiting for you to accept.'

'Thank you very much Sir,' replied Shinn with a grin of pride on his face.

'And finally?' said Durandal as he extended his hand to Heero.

'Heero Yuy,' answered Heero as he reluctantly shook Durandal's hand.

'Yes I believe you may have heard this enough but I would like to personally thank you for the helping with the destruction of Junius Seven and the protection of the Minerva.'

'No thanks required,' said Heero, unaffected by Durandal's words.

As the group sat to lunch the Chairman turned the conversation to the cause of war.

'Why do you think that this war has started after two years of peace, Shinn?'

'Me Sir?' asked Shinn as Durandal nodded. 'I think it is because that there are people out there on both sides that hate each other and want the other destroyed.'

'Like Blue Cosmos,' said Durandal. 'Yes you are right in that regard but there is another influence as well. What I'm about to tell you not many other people know.'

'Chairman they're just children,' said Gladys.

'Yes, children that are fighting on the front lines, I believe they have a right to know the truth. You see that machine out there. It's our latest mass production unit, straight off the production line. You see, war is like a business to some people. They require war so that they can produce weapons for sale and keep their stock high. So if there is no war, these people will go broke. So they produce ways of starting wars, like Blue Cosmos.'

'That's terrible,' said Shinn in horror.

'It's the same in my world,' said Heero much to everyone's surprise.

'Go on,' prompted Durandal.

'I grew up in the colonies. And like here, there were people in my world that didn't like them. One day, someone from Earth assassinated our leader and started a war against the colonies. We believed that this was the OZ organisation as they constantly oppressed the colonies. We later learned that OZ was in fact controlled by a group of people known as the Romafella Foundation. This in turn was controlled by a man known as Treize and his faction.'

'That is the same here. Most people know that Blue Cosmos controls the Atlantic Federation but it is the people that created Blue Cosmos that we are really fighting. They are simply known as Logos and they desire war above everything else.'

'So we are fighting Logos then?' asked Luna.

'Not directly, but I plan to eliminate Logos to bring an end to this war,' finished Durandal as the group sat in silence at the revelation.

As lunch ended, the sun was starting to set and Durandal led them to the hotel.

'I invite you to stay here as my guests.'

'Thank you Chairman,' replied Athrun. 'Shinn, Rey, Luna, Heero, you guys stay here, I'll return to the ship.'

'No commander, I insist that you should stay,' said Rey. 'I have things I need to do.'

'Athrun!' came Meer's voice as she ran up to the group. 'I couldn't believe it when the Chairman said you were here. Did you see my concert?'

'Ah, yeah,' said Athrun in shock as Meer clung her arms around his.

'You two should go out for dinner, my treat,' said Durandal.

'Thank you Sir,' replied Meer. 'Let's go make the reservations.'

'First a word Athrun,' said Durandal as the rest of the group walked away.

Durandal led Athrun and Meer to a nearby park and Meer sat on a bench as Durandal spoke.

'Have you heard anything from the Archangel?'

'No Sir, I was hoping you would have.'

'I haven't either, though if you do, could you please report it to me,'

'Yes Sir and if you hear anything can you do the same?'

'Yes I think I can,' replied Durandal as Meer walked up and dragged Athrun away.

**That's if for number 11. You know the drill. Read and Review.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Start of something new?**

The next morning, Luna woke early and made her way down the hall. When she reached the door she wanted, she reached out her hand and was about to knock when she heard a noise come from her right.

'Yes,' said the voice.

Luna turned and noticed a sweaty Heero standing there. She then smiled before speaking.

'Good morning Heero, I was wondering if you wanted to..'

She was pulled up short as she noticed Heero remove his green singlet as he made his way to his door. Luna's eyes were instantly drawn to his muscular body which had a few scars on it. She caught herself staring and turned her face away blushing as she noticed Heero watching her.

'Yes?' said Heero again as he unlocked his door and walked in his room.

'I was wondering if you wanted to join me for breakfast,' asked Luna as she followed Heero in. She then noticed all of the scars on his back.

'_Must be from his training_,' thought Luna.

'Yeah might as well,' said Heero as he grabbed a towel and clothes from his bag. 'I'll grab a shower first so you might as well wait here.'

Heero then proceeded to the bathroom as Luna sat down at the desk. It was only five minutes before Heero emerged with wet hair in his usual jeans. Luna again caught herself staring as Heero grabbed a polo shirt from his bed and tossed it on. He then put on his boots and grabbed his pistol from under his pillow and put it in his waist band.

'Do you always carry that?' asked Luna as they made their way out of the room.

'I don't trust too many people,' replied Heero as they walked along the hall.

'Hang on,' said Luna as she stopped outside a door and knocked while Heero waited at the top of the stairs. 'Commander Zala, would you like to join us for breakfast?'

Luna could hear a scuffle from inside.

'Just a minute,' called Athrun.

The door opened and Luna was greeted by Meer in a pink nightgown.

'You go on ahead, we'll join you later,' said Meer with a cheery smile as she closed the door.

Luna then walked back to Heero and started down the stairs.

'Did you just see?' asked Luna as she looked back over her shoulder at the door.

This caused her to loose her footing as she felt herself start to fall face first but felt herself suddenly stop. Heero had reacted with his lightning fast reflexes and managed to catch Luna before she face planted.

'Thanks,' said Luna as Heero pulled her to her feet as Luna clung to his arm.

They both started down the stairs again and Heero noticed that Luna again had not let go of his arm, but again this didn't seem to faze him like he thought it should.

Back in Athrun's room, Athrun was in complete shock at the sight of Meer.

'What do you think you're doing?' asked Athrun as he grabbed Meer around the arms.

'Answering the door of course,'

'No I mean, what are you doing here?'

'Well I came to see you last night and it looked like you were asleep when I opened the door. I was surprised to see that you were asleep. And people that are engaged do this kind of thing.'

'But Lacus wouldn't.'

'She wouldn't, why?' asked Meer as Athrun grabbed his head in frustration.

As Heero and Luna made their way to the dinning room, they noticed the orange headed red uniform with a Faith badge that had escorted them to Durandal the day before.

'Good morning,' said the orange head when Luna and Heero were in ear shot.

'Good morning Sir,' replied Luna as she smiled and saluted the man while continuing to hold onto Heero's arm, while Heero nodded with his normal face.

'Are you two together by any chance,' asked the Faith member as he noticed Luna holding onto Heero's arm.

Luna blushed while Heero decided to be cheeky.

'No I'm just doing the gentlemanly thing and escort the lady to breakfast,' said Heero with a smirk, while Luna felt put off by the remark as if what was said was an insult but she let it pass.

'I see,' said the Faith member. 'Would you care to join me?'

'Thank you Sir,' said Luna as she let go of Heero and made her way to the table.

She was about to sit down when they heard a loud voice from the stairs.

'And as I took the flowers from the soldier and smiled all he could do was faint,' said Meer with a laugh as she and Athrun made their way to the dining room.

'Good morning Miss Lacus,' said the Faith member.

Athrun shrugged Meer off of his arm as he saluted and the Faith member nodded.

'Good morning Commander Westenfluss, did you enjoy my show yesterday?' said Meer.

'I did indeed,' replied Westenfluss.

'Excuse me Miss Lacus but we must be off,' said a man in a suit.

'I see, well goodbye Athrun,' said Meer as she followed her manager.

As they watched Meer walk off, Westenfluss addressed Athrun.

'You two are close aren't you?'

'Well it's not what you think.'

'It's nothing to be ashamed of, really.'

'Excuse me Sir, but who are you?' asked Luna.

'Where are my manners, I'm Heine Westenfluss, and you're Lunamaria Hawke, pilot of a ZAKU Warrior.'

'That's right,' said Luna.

'And you're Shinn Asuka and you pilot the Impulse.'

'That's right,' said Shinn as he made his way to the group.

'And that other guy pilots a Blaze ZAKU Phantom,' continued Heine. 'And also the Wing Zero and mercenary pilot Heero Yuy and legendary pilot Athrun Zala in the Saviour.'

'That's right,' said Athrun.

'And you're a member of Faith as well as the Captain. With that kind of fighting strength I wonder what the Chairman had in mind when assigning me to the Minerva.'

'What?' asked the group.

'Well that's enough of that. Why don't you show me around the Minerva Athrun?'

'Alright, follow me,' said Athrun as he led Heine towards the Diocuia port.

'Looks like breakfast was interrupted,' said Luna to Heero as they along with Shinn followed Athrun and Heine.

'Yeah, sorry,' said Heero. That last word hung in Heero's mind as he remembered the only time he apologized for anything was after the killed the OZ carrier with the peace dignitaries on it.

'Want to grab some lunch in town later on?' asked Luna.

'We'll see. I have some things to take care of first,' replied Heero as he walked back towards the room wing of the building. 'Cya.'

As Athrun showed Heine around the ship he couldn't help but keep on talking.

'So much better than serving on a Nascar Class, ay Athrun?'

'Yes Sir.'

'Were you previously on a Nascar class before hand Commander Westenfluss?' asked Luna.

'During the first war I served at headquarters and until recently I was on Lunar Orbit. And please call me Heine,'

'What?' asked Luna.

'Is he being serious Commander Zala?'

'Commander Westenfluss has seniority over me Shinn so do as he says.'

'Call me Heine. Now you don't mean to tell me that your comrades call you Commander?'

'Well…'

'He's the one that takes command on the battlefield so that's what we call him,' said Rey.

'I see,' said Heine. 'Well from now on we address each other by our names. We have no need for rank like the earth forces do. Now could someone please escort me to the captain's office?'

'Follow me,' said Rey as he, Luna and Heine walked off.

'Was he serious about not calling him "Commander," commander?' asked Shinn.

'Yes and call me Athrun,' replied Athrun.

'Hey Athrun, you were supposed to be showing me around the ship,' came Heine's voice from the door.

In town Heero was sitting in a café with his computer. He had a headset on and was using video chat.

'I see,' said Heero. 'How are things proceeding otherwise?'

'A little slow,' came Erica's voice from the speakers. 'What you require is taking a little longer to get but we should still be done when you need it.'

'I understand. Keep me informed of any other developments. Heero Yuy out,' said Heero as he shut off the video chat and his computer.

It was around noon when Luna was descending the boarding ramp of the Minerva. She had decided that Heero had got caught up with what he was doing so she decided to go into town by herself. She was near the bottom when a bike pulled up.

'Heero?' asked Luna in surprise.

'You said you wanted to grab lunch,' said Heero. 'Hop on.'

'Ok,' replied Luna as she got on the bike.

She then remembered the last time she was on a bike with Heero so she immediately wrapped her arms around his waist. Heero then took off and sped down the road

'Can we slow down a little?' asked Luna.

'Why? The quicker we get there the quicker we get to have lunch,' replied Heero as he clicked it up a gear which caused Luna to tighten her grip.

The buildings of the port started to disappear as Heero took them along a coastal road that ran along the cliff.

'Where are we going?' asked Luna.

'Just a place I saw earlier,' replied Heero.

It only took about half an hour before Heero started to slow down the bike and bring it to a stop. Luna lifted her head from Heero's back and looked around to see they were at a beach. Luna noticed that there were a few people around as well as a kiosk and a rent-a-board shop.

'What do you think?' asked Heero as Luna got off of the bike.

'It's beautiful; I've never been to the beach before.'

'Thought so,' said Heero. 'Bet you don't know how to swim either.'

'As a matter of fact I do. But I don't have my swimmers.'

'Don't worry,' said Heero as he grabbed a bag from the bike pack and tossed it at Luna. 'I got your sister to grab them before I picked you up.'

'Oh,' said Luna as she looked inside the bag. 'But why are you doing all of this?'

'I don't know to be honest,' said Heero. 'I just felt like it.'

'Well ok then,' said Luna as the two started walking towards the change rooms.

It took only a couple of minutes before Luna emerged from the change room to find Heero waiting. (He had his shorts on underneath so he did a simple strip and stash in his bag). He couldn't help but stare as Luna appeared in her light pink string bikini. He felt the blood rise in his face as he turned and made for the water before Luna could notice. As they entered the surf, Heero did a dive under a wave and disappeared from Luna's sight.

'Heero?' she asked while looking around for him in the crystal clear water.

'Got ya,' came Heero's voice from behind.

This made Luna jump as she turned around to see Heero standing there.

'Meanie,' said Luna as she splashed Heero with some water.

'So that's how it's going to be,' replied Heero as he splashed her back.

This started a water fight as the two began pelting each other with water. Heero then lunged forward and grabbed a hold of Luna's waist before she could get away.

'Got you now,' said Heero as he picked Luna up.

'What are you doing?' asked Luna as Heero started walking further into the water.

Heero then angled Luna down as she suddenly realised what he was going to do.

'Heero! Don't you dare!' squealed Luna as she tried to escape his grip.

But it was too late. Heero tossed Luna into the air and she landed in the water with a splash. As she surfaced she gave Heero deaths stare.

'I'm gonna get you for that,' said Luna as she started swimming towards Heero.

'Oh no,' said Heero playfully as he started swimming away slowly.

Luna caught up to him and grabbed him around the shoulders.

'Punishment time,' said Luna as she dunked Heero into the water.

As Heero was pushed under the surface he turned around and grabbed hold of Luna and pulled her under as well. The two then play-wrestled for a while before resurfacing. Luna was laughing while Heero had what could be called a half smile. If anyone from the Minerva or any of Heero's Gundam friends saw what was going on, they would swear that someone had replaced Heero with an impostor.

Heero, like Luna, had no idea why he did what he did. All he knew was that it felt natural. The two then swam to the shore before grabbing their towels, changing and heading for the kiosk.

As they sat eating a feed of fish and chips, Heero decided to start up a conversation.

'You know I told you about my past life and I realized that I never asked you anything about your life before joining the Minerva.'

Luna looked up from her food, surprised by Heero's question.

'Well what do you want to know?'

'Your family, growing up in the plants, going to the academy. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies etc. While I myself don't have many I'm sure you do.'

Luna then started to tell Heero about her life, while still shocked at Heero's sudden interest in her.

After a while the sun looked like it was starting to set and Luna started to shiver.

'Cold?' asked Heero as he noticed Luna wrap her arms around herself.

'A bit,' replied Luna.

Heero then did his next surprising thing for the day as he got up from his seat and draped his coat over Luna's shoulder.

'Better,' he asked as Luna looked at him.

'Much,' she replied as their eyes met, and for the first time, she thought she detected some warmth in his deep blue eyes.

After the moment passed Heero spoke.

'Guess we should head back then,' said Heero as Luna got up from the table and put Heero's coat on properly.

They then hopped on the bike and made their way back to the port.

It was around this time that Shinn was riding his bike along a similar road that Heero travelled on. He pulled the bike up near the cliff and walked out to the edge where he stood with his eyes closed, listening to the sounds of the waves breaking against the rocks. His relaxation was disturbed when he hear a voice from a rock near his. He looked to see a blonde girl in a blue dress dancing. Shinn smiled to himself at the sight before closing his eyes again. Then splash! Shinn snapped his eyes open as he looked to where the girl was standing, then to the water.

'She fell in!' said Shinn as he ran to where she was.

As he looked over the edge he saw the girl struggling in the water.

'She can't swim,' said Shinn as he stripped off his boots and jacket and dived into the water.

He managed to grab hold of the girl but she continued to struggle.

'Just calm down, I've got you,' said Shinn as the girl whacked him in the face.

After a while the girl settled down and Shinn dragged her to the shore below the cliff. Once he put her on solid ground his anger rose and he snapped at her.

'What is wrong with you,' he snarled. 'Dancing around up there when you can't swim, do you want to die?'

This caused the girl to freak out again as she started walking towards the water.

'I don't want to die!' said the girl.

Shinn realised what he said and went after her. He grabbed her in an embrace and started to comfort her.

'Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to you. I'll protect you,' said Shinn as the girl started to relax.

Shinn then led her into a nearby cave and wrapped his handkerchief around the cut on her leg.

'Does it hurt?'

The girl just shook her head as Shinn applied the makeshift bandage. She then grabbed his hand and held it against her cheek.

'Well since you can't swim this is our only option,' said Shinn as he grabbed his dog tags and broke a small cylinder on the chain. This activated the homing beacon on the Minerva. 'I bet that'll get me into a lot of trouble.'

Shinn then started a fire and hung his and the girl's clothes up to dry.

'Where are you from? Where are your parents?' asked Shinn as they sat back to back.

'From? Nowhere,' answered the girl. 'Parents? I don't know.'

'Something bad must have happened for you not to remember,'

This last word made the girl look around. Shinn noticed.

'No don't worry. Nothing bad will happen. I'll protect you,' said Shinn. 'So who are you with?'

'I'm with Sting, and Neo and Auel.'

'What's your name?'

'Stella.'

'My name's Shinn.'

'Shinn.'

'Yes, Shinn. Can you remember that?'

Stella then smiled as she stood up and walked to where the clothes were hanging. Shinn looked around but turned back suddenly as she saw Stella topless. He then noticed Stella's hand near his face. He turned to look and saw a shell.

'For me?' asked Shinn as he looked at Stella.

She nodded and Shinn took the shell and turned around again so he couldn't see her. Stella then sat down and looked into the fire.

A couple hours later a boat arrived at their location. As Shinn walked out of the cave he heard Athrun's voice.

'You just can't have a normal day off like anyone else can you?'

'Well..' started Shinn as Stella walked out of the cave and hid behind Shinn.

As they left in the boat two men were calling from the cliff, this caused Stella to turn and smile. Once the boat arrived at the port, Shinn, Athrun and Stella hopped in a jeep and drove to where the two men stood. When they got near, another jeep came towards them. Athrun signalled them to stop.

'Sting. Auel,' said Stella.

'Stella,' said the one called Sting. 'We've been looking for you everywhere. What happened?'

'She fell into the water. Just lucky I was there to save her,' said Shinn.

Athrun looked at the other guy in the jeep and had a vivid memory of them at armoury one.

'Well I owe you a debt of thanks,' said Sting.

Athrun turned the jeep around and Shinn hopped in as Stella walked up to it.

'Shinn?'

'Don't worry Stella. You're with your brothers now. I'll come visit you okay.'

Stella smiled at this as the jeep took off.

'I meant what I said Stella. I'll come visit. I promise,' called Shinn from the jeep as it disappeared around the corner.

The sun had only just set when Heero pulled the bike up at the Minerva boarding ramp. As Luna hopped off of the bike she grabbed her bag from Heero and looked at him but felt a bit shy.

'I had a really nice time today,' said Luna.

'I'm glad you enjoyed it,' replied Heero.

Then Luna did something that neither of them prepared for. She lent forward and gave Heero a peck on the cheek. Heero sat there stunned as Luna pulled away.

'Thanks,' she said as she ran up the board walk to hide the bright red blushing that appeared.

Heero then shook himself before starting the bike back up and taking it back to the rent shop. He didn't see Luna for the rest of the evening when he returned to the Minerva. And as he lay on his bed, he couldn't stop himself from replaying the last few days' events over and over in his mind, trying to figure out why he acted like he did. He then cycled the memories one last time before shutting his body down into rest mode.

**Well what did you think of this chapter. Please read and review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Before I begin this chapter, I'd like to say that I'm a little put off by the lack of reviews. So please review. Even if you say that you like the story and want me to keep going. It lets a writer know their work is appreciated. Thank you. So now here's some more of the story.**

**Chapter 13: Death at the Dardanelles**

The next morning Heero was sitting in Wing Zero's cockpit, working as usual, when Zero went into his mind after he thought about what had happened yesterday. Zero then flashed his eyes as he talked to Heero.

'I can't figure it out either Zero,' said Heero. 'It's not like me to do that kind of thing but for some reason I enjoyed myself.'

Zero then flashed again.

'What would you know?' said Heero after Zero had "teased" him about it.

As Heero made his way from the hanger he saw Luna exit from a room. Awkwardness fell between them as they got near each other.

'Hi,' said Luna with a sort of embarrassed smile as memories of yesterday came flooding back.

'Hi,' said Heero back as he too started to remember.

They stood there for minute, which felt like an eternity, in silence.

'Well I gotta go,' said Heero. 'Bye.'

'Bye,' replied Luna as she watched Heero walk off.

'_What is wrong with me?_' though Heero as he walked around a corner.

As he was thinking this, Luna was remembering what happened the night before when he got to her room and Meyrin saw her smile.

**Flashback**

As Luna got into her room, she closed the door and lent back against it while resting her face in her bag as she smiled and squealed. (As girls do when something good has just happened to them like in the movies).

'So how was it?' asked Meyrin as Luna noticed her little sister sitting on her bed.

'How was what?' replied Luna playing dumb as she tossed her bag to the side before falling on her bed.

'Your date with Heero.'

'Great,' smiled Luna. 'But I don't know if you'd call it a date. He just took me out for lunch.'

'Yeah, to a beach,' said Meyrin with a school girl giggle. 'Sounds like a date to me. So what happened?'

'We went swimming, and then had lunch and he asked me about myself.'

'And?' prompted Meyrin.

'It started to get cold so he gave me his jacket,' said Luna as she suddenly realized that she was still wearing it.

'I wondered who that belonged to,' said Meyrin as she gave another giggle. 'Anything else?'

'We drove back here and..' said Luna as she suddenly went red after remembering what she did. 'I kissed him on the cheek.'

'What?' asked Meyrin as she looked at her sister blushing. 'What did he do?'

'Nothing. He just sat there stunned to say the least,' said Luna as she remembered Heero's reaction. 'Thing's are going to be awkward now.'

'Why?'

'Because of the kiss.'

**End Flashback**

Somewhere near the exit of the Dardanelles, the Earth forces fleet was waiting with the Orb fleet.

'I hope you have a plan for stopping them Yuna,' said Neo.

'Yes, we'll wait for them to exit the straight and as you draw their fire, we'll sneak around the side and outflank them,' replied Yuna.

'That seems reasonable enough. But you do realise that that ship sank one Earth forces fleet, as well as defeating us and the battery in Turkey. The Wing Zero itself is more of a threat than anything else.'

'I see, well since you have the mobile suits from Armoury One, I suggest that you deal with it.'

'Fine by us, just don't screw up or it'll be your head, got it. Prepare the fleet to attack on site,' said Neo.

'Yes Sir,' replied several officers.

Around midday, all of the pilots were in the hanger working on their machines as the Minerva sailed down the Dardanelles. The two mechanics that were working on the Saviour were having an excited discussion.

'Did you see Lacus Clyne at that concert the other day?'

'Yeah. I mean, she is so hot,'

'I know, and you can tell that she is totally stacked by those cute little outfits she wears,'

'I can't wait to get my hands on one of her posters.'

'Where is the Saviours maintenance log?' asked a voice from behind.

As the two mechanics turned to see Athrun standing there, their faces went in backwards at fear of being told off for what they said.

'Right here,'

'Carry on,' said Athrun as he typed something and walked off.

'Can you believe that he's engaged to her? He's so lucky.'

'You know, it wouldn't be that hard to pull a few cables from the Saviour.'

'You know I can hear you?' called Athrun as the two mechanic turned to look at Athrun standing a few meters away. 'And everything else that was said.'

'Sorry sir,' replied the mechanics as Athrun smiled from the look on their faces.

'There you are Athrun,' said Heine as he walked up to the pilot. 'You know we should have lunch together. As well as the other pilots. Shinn, Rey, Lunamaria. Time to go eat. Where's Heero Yuy?'

'Up here,' answered Heero from a scissor lift near Wing Zero's arm as he watched the other pilots walk up to the Gundam.

'Stop work for an hour and come eat with the rest of your team. This is a new tradition that I'm starting,' said Heine.

'He always eats alone, and never talks to anyone unless it's important,' said Shinn as Heero lowered the scissor lift to the cockpit.

'_He didn't yesterday_,' thought Luna as she felt herself go red again.

As Heero entered the cockpit he pulled off his overalls and went to grab his jacket when he remembered that he gave it to Luna and didn't get it back. He then lowered the lift to the ground and walked to the group.

'Let's go,' he said as he walked towards the elevator with the other pilots following.

'Looks like you're wrong Shinn,' said Rey.

As they reached the lift an alarm went off.

'What's going on?' asked Shinn.

'Going to condition red, going to condition red, all pilots report to the briefing room,' came Meyrin's voice over the loud speaker.

'Maybe some other time then,' said Heine as the pilots filed into the lift and went up the next level to the pilot briefing room.

As they entered, Athrun walked up to the monitor.

'What's going on?' asked Athrun.

'We don't know, but several enemy ships have appeared on radar so we're preparing for combat. Board your machines when ready,' said Meyrin over the intercom.

'Looks like they are playing right into our hands,' said Yuna as he sat in the Orb flag ship. 'Launch the Murasame's at once.'

'Yes Sir,' replied a reluctant Todaka.

'An inform Phantom Pain to do the same while firing a barrage on the ship.'

'Yes Sir,' replied Todaka again.

On Phantom Pain:

'You heard the man,' said Neo. 'Fire a barrage at the Minerva and launch all mobile suits, I'm launching too.'

'Yes Sir,' said and officer. 'Fire at the Minerva.'

On the Minerva:

'Incoming heat sources, looks like missiles,' said a monitor.

'Activate eagle stellons, raise bow pitch thirty, load launchers one through five, activate Tristan and Isolde. Fire,' yelled Gladys.

The Minerva sent up its own barrage to counter the Earth Forces one.

'Have we got a reading on the enemy yet?' asked Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied Meyrin. 'Appears to be ten Earth Forces carriers, fifty Windams, the Chaos, Gaia and Abyss, and there appears to be Murasames launching from Stern.'

'Orb is here?' questioned Arthur.

'Never mind, launch the mobile suits,' ordered Gladys.

As the mobile suits were being loaded on the catapult, Meyrin appeared on their screens.

'You're up against Windams, Chaos, Gaia, Abyss and Murasames.'

'What did you say?' asked Athrun in shock at this revelation.

'Looks like Orb is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong,' said Shinn. 'Looks like I'll have to destroy them as well.'

The three Gundams launched while the GOUF and two ZAKU's stayed behind. Heero, Shinn and Athrun charged at the enemy, slicing down Windams and Murasames as they went.

'I've got the Chaos,' said Athrun as he saw the green Gundam flying at him.

'You again,' said Sting as he blocked an attack from Athrun. 'Today you go down.'

On the Orb flag ship:

'Now's our chance, fire at the Minerva,' ordered Yuna.

'Yes Sir,' replied Todaka. 'Fire missiles at the Minerva.

On the Minerva:

'More missiles incoming,' said the Monitor.

'Evade,' said Gladys.

'Too late,' said the Monitor as the radar showed impact imminent.

'Minerva,' said Heero as he destroyed a Windam and the radar showed the missiles.

Heero then gunned at the ship and fired his buster rifle just as the missiles were about to hit. He then turned towards the Orb ships and flew to attack.

On Orb flag ship:

'Shoot down that mobile suit. Get the Murasames over here,' yelled Yuna as he started to go mad from power and fear.

'Go down,' yelled Sting as he kept defending against Athrun's attacks while trying to out fly him.

'There's too many,' said Shinn as he destroyed another couple of Windams and Murasames.

On Minerva:

'Captain we aren't going to get much further unless we destroy those ships,' stated Arthur.

'I know that,' replied Gladys. 'Aim Tahnhauser.'

'Aiming Tahnhauser, target Earth Forces Fleet,' said Arthur as he punched in the data.

On Phantom Pain:

'Sir, the enemy is preparing to fire its positron cannon,' said an officer.

'Try to evade as best as possible,' said Neo.

'Yes Sir.'

On Minerva:

'Fire,' ordered Gladys as the Tahnhauser reached maximum fire power.

Just as the cannon was about to shoot, a green beam came from above and destroyed it.

'What was that?' asked Gladys.

The whole battlefield had stopped as the explosion took place. They all looked to where the shot had come from and were shocked to see a white mobile suit with blue wings and the Archangel.

'The Freedom, Kira,' said Athrun in surprise.

As everyone continued to watch, Heine contacted the bridge.

'Captain if anything happens, I'll launch, is that alright?'

'Yes that's fine, we'll have Rey and Lunamaria do the same,' replied Gladys.

On the Archangel a pink mobile suit with a white crest had launched, it flew up beside the Freedom and stopped, while the pilot activated the open channel.

'This is Orb's Chief Representative, Cagalli Yula Atha. I demand that all Orb forces stop fighting and return home, immediately.'

'The princess?' said most of the Orb pilots and crewman in shock.

'Yuna Roma Sieran, what is going on?' asked Neo angrily as he contacted the Orb flag ship. 'If you don't explain right now this will cause serious problems for your country.'

'She, I,' started Yuna as he looked at the Strike Rouge. 'I don't know who she is, she's mad, my Cagalli wouldn't do this.'

The crewman on board the ship looked in shock at Yuna's words.

'Well then shoot them down,' ordered Neo as he cut the line.

'Fire at that ship and mobile suit,' ordered Yuna.

'But that is Lady Cagalli,' said Todaka. 'It's her machine, her crest, her voice.'

'NO! It's an imposter, I know my Cagalli, she would never betray me like this, NOW SHOOT THEM!.'

'But Sir.'

'If you don't they'll attack us.'

'Very well, open fire,' said Todaka as he gave in.

A barrage of missiles flew at the Freedom and Strike Rouge. Cagalli could only watch in fear as they drew closer and Kira moved out front and destroyed them with full burst mode.

'Stay back Cagalli, I'll do what I can. Mr Waltfeld, protect the ship,' said Kira.

'I'm not in Kira's league so could you back me up,' said Waltfeld to Murrue as he made his way to the hanger.

'Continue your attack on the Minerva,' ordered Yuna and Neo to their troops.

The Windams and Murasames restarted their assault on the Minerva as well as the Archangel. Shinn, Athrun and Heero, went back to defending the ship while Heine, Rey and Luna launched.

'Something on sonar captain, looks like the Abyss,' said a monitor.

'Equip Rey and Lunamaria with underwater bazookas,' ordered Gladys.

'What good are ZAKUs underwater?' asked Luna as she jumped in.

'We'll find out,' replied Rey as he too jumped in only to be slammed by the Abyss.

'Those mobile suits are no good in here,' said Auel as he dodged the bazooka shots and rammed them again, enjoying that he could take them when he wants.

Back in the air, Kira was attacking the Windams, Murasames and missiles whenever they got near. Heine was engaging a Windam when he was slammed from behind.

'What the?' he asked as he saw the Gaia.

'I'll get you,' said Stella as she charged in mobile armour mode.

Heine activated the electrical whip and started shocking the Gaia.

'This is no ZAKU pal, no ZAKU,' he said as he continued whipping the Gaia.

On the Archangel, Murrue was thinking of a way to stop the advancing ships.

'You see those three ships to port, we're going to stop them. Aim Godfreeds, fire,' said Murrue as the beam hit the water near the ship, causing it to almost capsize.

'That ship just saved us captain,' said Arthur in shock.

'Is it possible that they are here to solely stop this battle?' Gladys asked in reply.

The Chaos had locked onto the Freedom and went to attack it.

'I've got you,' said Sting as he took a swing with his beam sabre, only to be disabled by Kira.

Kira then flew to another part of the battlefield where the Impulse was.

'What are you doing?' asked Shinn as Kira flew by and sliced off the Impulse's arm.

Kira then fired some shots from the rail cannon at the water and hit the Abyss.

'What the?' asked Auel as his machine became usless underwater.

Athrun meanwhile was trying to contact Kira.

'Kira,' he said while trying to find his radio channel.

'Attacking all of us, what makes you so special?' asked Heine as he saw the Freedom fly at him.

He didn't have much time to react as Kira flew by and sliced of the GOUFs arm while knocking down the Gaia. Stellar regained her footing and launched at the Freedom in mobile armour mode, she was just about to reach him when Heine got in the road.

'Move it,' she yelled as she reached the GOUF.

Heine didn't know what hit him as the Gaia sliced through the cockpit and destroyed the GOUF.

'HEINE!' yelled Athrun as he witnessed his new friend's death at the hands of Kira again.

'Time to retreat,' ordered Neo as the Freedom was causing too much of a problem for them to destroy the Minerva.

The ship sent out its signal flares and the battle halted. The Windams, Murasames and three gundams returned to their ships and sailed away.

The Freedom and Archangel realised that their work was done as they too left the battlefield while the Minerva just sat there, waiting to pick up the pieces.

**That's it for this chapter. Please read and review.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I thank those who did review telling me that they were waiting for the 00 section of the story. Yes it is following the cannon of the show with Heero doing his thing. So I ask for patience in that regard. Thank you.**

**Chapter 14: Reason**

The following day, the Minerva arrived in Greece. All the pilots were upset about the death of Heine as well as the rest of the crew that lost their lives. Shinn, Rey, Luna, Athrun and Heero stood near a van as the body of Heine was loaded in.

'I'll make sure the Commander Westenfluss' personal belongings are delivered to his family,' said the man as he saluted the pilots.

They watched the van drive away and made their way back to the Minerva. They walked in silence until Shinn spoke.

'It's all their fault,' said Shinn angrily. 'If they hadn't interfered Heine would still be alive. The next time I see the Freedom, I'll destroy it.'

With that, Shinn stormed off with Luna and Rey in toe. Athrun was left feeling guilty at knowing that Shinn was right. Heero saw the look on Athrun's face.

'I think it's time we had a word with Kira and Cagalli,' said Heero. 'Do you know if you can find them?'

Athrun shook himself from his thoughts at Heero's request.

'Yes I can, give me a day,' replied Athrun as he walked back to the Minerva, leaving Heero alone on the board walk.

'You're saying you know where they are?' asked Gladys after Athrun told her of his plans.

'Not exactly but I might know how to find them. After all you've read my report. You know that I joined them at the end of the last war. I just need to know why they did what they did the other day.'

'I see,' replied Gladys as she thought about it for the moment. 'I give you permission to go and seek the Archangel. I suppose Heero wants to go as well?'

'Yes Mam.'

'Very well, I'll allow it. Just make sure you're back before we leave.'

'Thank you Mam,' said Athrun as he saluted and left the room.

Athrun then made his way to the hanger where he knew Heero would be.

'Heero,' called Athrun from the foot of Wing Zero.

Heero poked his head out of the cockpit at hearing his name. 'Yes?' he asked.

'Come down here,' asked Athrun with a serious look on his face.

Heero landed on the ground and Athrun walked up as close as possible so no one else would hear.

'I've got the go ahead to go look for them. We leave tomorrow after dawn. Bring Wing Zero, I'll take the Saviour, we'll hide them as we wait to find them.'

'Roger that,' replied Heero as he used the cord to go back up to Wing Zero's cockpit.

The following day, Heero and Athrun left the Minerva while most of the crew were still asleep. They took their Gundams and hid them in the nearby forest. They both went into town and rented transport.

'We'll split up and contact each other if we find anything,' said Athrun.

'What exactly are we looking for?' asked Heero.

'Any sign that Kira, Cagalli or the Archangel is here. We'll meet at that hotel at dusk if nothing turns up.'

'Roger that,' replied Heero as he kicked his bike into gear and took off down the street.

Athrun started up his car and headed the opposite way. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for as a brunette with a camera ran in front of him. It only took him a few seconds to realise who it was.

'Miriallia,' called Athrun from the car making the woman stop and look. 'Miriallia Haw.'

'Athrun Zala?' questioned Miriallia as she saw who was calling out to her.

At a nearby café, Athrun, Heero and Miriallia were sitting down as Mir began talking.

'So you re-joined ZAFT?'

'Yes I felt it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.'

'I see, and who are you?' she asked while looking at Heero.

'This is Heero Yuy, he's a freelance pilot, for the moment,' answered Athrun as he saw Heero had no intention of exchanging pleasantries.

'So you were at that battle yesterday?'

'What?' asked Athrun.

'I was there, I saw the whole thing from beginning to end,' replied Mir as she took out some photos that showed the battle that took place in the Dardanelles.

'Yes we were there, than the Archangel turned up and…'

'Things got a little messy?'

'Yeah. Can you put us in contact with them?'

'What do you hope to accomplish by finding the Archangel?'

'We just want to talk.'

'I see. Give me a few hours. I'll contact you when it's organised.'

'Thank you,' replied Athrun as he and Heero got up from the table and headed for the hotel.

Back on the Minerva, Shinn and Rey had been summoned to Gladys' office.

'A recon mission?' asked Shinn. 'Why?'

'We have Intel that an old Earth Alliance base is nearby. We believed it to be abandoned but recently there have been a lot of mobile suits coming and going,' replied Gladys.

'But why send us? This job is too lame,' back chatted Shinn.

'What if it is a secret base filled with top secret weapons?' asked Arthur in reply.

'Oh yeah, I didn't think of that,' said Shinn as way of apology.

'You and Rey will head out at dusk and inspect the base. Report any findings,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' said Rey and Shinn as they saluted and left the room to prepare for the mission.

Below the surface of the Aegean Sea, the Archangel sat, waiting for Intel from the Terminal.

'In coming message from the Terminal,' said the communications officer.

'What does it say?' asked Murrue.

'I saw and Angel at the Dardanelles, I'd like to see it again. Also, the Red Knight is looking for the Princess. Miriallia,' read the officer.

'Miriallia?' questioned Murrue.

'Who's the Red Knight?' asked Waltfeld.

'Athrun,' replied Cagalli almost immediately. 'I think he wants to meet us.'

'But what is it's a trap?' asked Murrue. 'A good spy would know that Miriallia would know how to contact us.'

'Does it state a location?' asked Kira.

'Here,' said the officer as he put up some photos of an island with a statue.

'We're going,' said Kira. 'Send a reply.'

Back on the mainland, Athrun and Heero waited in the room to hear back from Miriallia.

'She couldn't do it,' said Heero.

'Just give it some time,' replied Athrun.

Meanwhile, across the road, Luna was watching them through a pair of binoculars.

**Flashback**

'Yes Captain?' asked Luna as she entered the office and saluted.

'Luna I have a special mission for you,' said Gladys. 'From the Chairman himself.'

'Yes?' prompted Luna a little shocked at this request.

'I need you to spy on Athrun and Heero. They are going to meet with the Archangel and the Chairman wants someone to listen in on their conversation. Will you do it?'

'I don't know,' replied Luna a little upset at being asked to betray her friends.

'I understand that it is a heavy burden but I trust you to accomplish it.'

'Mission accepted Mam,' replied Luna as she saluted and left the room.

**End Flashback**

Back in the hotel room the phone rang.

'Yes?' said Athrun as he answered it. 'Very well, we'll be there.'

Athrun hung up the phone and looked at Heero. 'Let's go.'

They made their way from the hotel and into the forest where their Gundams lay hidden under a camouflage net. They powered them up and headed for the location that Miriallia had told them to go.

On the island, outside of Crete, Miriallia stood waiting. The Freedom was the first to arrive and as Cagalli and Kira came ashore, they were delighted to see their old friend again.

'Kira, Cagalli,' said Mir as she ran up and hugged them. 'It's so good to see you again.'

'You too,' said Cagalli.

'Is he here yet?' asked Kira.

'I sent him a message, they should be here any moment,' replied Mir.

'They?' question Cagalli.

She didn't have to wait long for her answer as the Saviour and Wing Zero landed on the opposite side of the island. Athrun and Heero exited their mobile suits and walked up to the middle of the island to meet Kira and Cagalli.

'Kira, Cagalli,' said Athrun as way of greeting.

'Athrun,' replied Kira. 'Heero.'

'Kira, representative,' replied Heero, calm as ever.

'What are you doing Athrun?' asked Cagalli before she could help herself. 'Why did you re-join ZAFT?'

'Because it was the right thing to do,' replied Athrun.

'But what about Orb's ideals?'

'So much for them after what happened the other day,' said Heero.

'Are they your machines?' asked Kira as he saw Cagalli's face after Heero's statement.

'Yes,' Athrun replied.

'So you were at that battle the other day?'

'Yes. But I want to know why you did it Kira, why did you interfere?'

'Because we wanted to stop Orb from becoming involved in another war.'

'Well it doesn't look like you did any good,' said Heero. 'Since Orb signed the treaty they have become nothing but puppets for the Earth Alliance.'

'And because of your meddling an unnecessary sacrifice was made. So why Kira?' asked Athrun.

'Because I am so sick and tired of all this fighting.'

'Then go home. Go back to Orb. Leave the fighting to us. Let us end the war so that Chairman Durandal can help put things right again.'

'Are you sure about him?' asked Kira.

'What do you mean?' asked Athrun in reply.

'What about that other Lacus up in the Plants?

At the sound of this, there were a few stunned faces. None so more than Luna's as she was sitting up on the cliff out of site, recording the conversation.

'Maybe you want to tell me why a squad of coordinators showed up and tried to have the real Lacus killed.'

'That could have been a rogue group like the ones that dropped Junius Seven,' said Athrun in defence of the Chairman.

'Maybe. But until I know for sure, I'll continue fighting. Because I don't want her or anyone else for that matter, getting hurt.'

'I'd say this discussion has reached its end,' said Heero as he turned to leave.

'Yeah,' replied Athrun as he turned to follow.

'But you're coming with us, aren't you?' asked Cagalli as she started after Athrun.

He turned and saw the look on Cagalli's face, as well as the ring he had given her.

'I understand why you did it, but some things are unforgivable, even to me,' said Athrun as he turned and kept walking to his machine.

'Let's go Cagalli,' said Kira as he grabbed his sisters are and led her away. 'Bye Miriallia.'

'Bye,' replied Mir a little confused at what had just happened.

As Heero neared Wing Zero, he thought he saw some movement in the bushes above the inlet. He looked there for a while before smirking and using the cable to reach the cockpit. He had one last look at the spot before hoping in and powering up Wing Zero.

'He didn't see me,' said Luna in relief as she had froze to the spot when Heero looked up.

Heero then did a fly by over Luna's hiding spot, causing her to hold onto a rock to stop from blowing away. The Saviour and Wing Zero then started to make their way back to the Minerva.

Meanwhile on the other side of the Sea. Shinn and Rey had landed at the abandoned facility. They carefully made their way inside, being sure that nothing was around. When they reached the inner rooms, Shinn felt around for a light switch while Rey kept walking.

'Got it,' said Shinn as he flicked the switch which illuminated the whole room. The sight that met his eyes made him feel sick to his stomach.

'What is this place?' he asked in disgust.

He then noticed Rey on all fours, shaking as he struggled to move.

'Rey!' cried Shinn as he ran to him. 'Rey what's wrong?'

Rey then collapsed.

**That's it for this chapter. I apologize for the few shortish chapters that will come up every now and then, or that have already been posted. Whenever I try to stretch a chapter out it never feels right so I write until it feels and reads good. Please Read and Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Important Discovery**

'What is it Shinn?' asked Gladys as the Impulse's pilot sent an urgent message.

'We reached the facility and when we went inside Rey started to act strange and then fainted. I moved him outside and he's fine now. But you should come look at what we found,' replied Shinn.

'What is it?'

'It'd be better if you saw for yourself,' said Shinn as he cut off the link.

'Power up the Minerva,' ordered Gladys. 'We're heading towards Shinn and Rey's location.

'Yes Mam,' replied all the bridge crew.

'Incoming message from the Minerva,' said Athrun as he and Heero were flying back to port. 'Says "The Minerva is departing from port and is heading to these coordinates".'

Athrun than brought up a map of the small island where Shinn and Rey were at. He then forwarded it on to Heero.

'Roger that,' replied Heero as he looked at the map. 'Looks like we better go there too.'

'Yes I think we should,' said Athrun as he and Heero changed the direction that they were flying.

One hour later, the Minerva arrived at the island where the facility that Shinn and Rey had investigated was located. The Saviour and Wing Zero were close behind.

'What's going on?' asked Athrun as he and Heero made their way to where Gladys and the others were standing.

'We received reports that there was an old Earth Alliance facility located here. We sent Shinn and Rey to investigate and they found something disturbing, and it caused Rey to faint,' replied Gladys.

'Are there any abnormal readings coming from the facility?' asked Heero.

'All signs appear to be normal, no toxic gases showed up on the scans,' answered a man sitting at a computer with a layout of the base.

'Then let's proceed to the facility,' said Gladys as she was followed by Athrun, Arthur, Heero and a few specialists.

When the group made their way to where Shinn and Rey had gotten to, the sight caused all but Heero to turn in disgust. All along the corridor were capsules with bodies and there were bodies of children and what looked like doctors. As they continued further in the amount of dead children they saw increased. Along the walls there were brains connected to cables held in liquid.

'What is this place?' asked Gladys in shock at the sights surrounding them.

'I have an idea but I hope I'm wrong,' replied Heero as they continued towards the centre of the building.

The next room housed a bunch of children with weapons and a few dead doctors. Heero noticed one kid holding a knife. This sight caused memories of Heero's training to come back and for the first time it made him shudder. The next room they entered housed more brains in liquid but in the far corner was a desk and computer. Gladys sat down and powered up the computer.

'It looks like a maintenance log,' said Gladys as she scanned some of the entries. 'March, five admitted, three discarded. April, six admitted, one discarded.'

'What is it?' asked Arthur in disgust at the sight around him.

'It's the training facility for the Alliance's Extended's, isn't it?' asked Heero in response.

'It appears so,' replied Gladys as she continued through the log.

Some of the screens brought up profiles on the test subjects, one Athrun recognised as the pilot of the Raider from the end of the last war. Some other screens brought up video footage of the test subjects training for analysis.

'We'll send a team down to collect this,' said Gladys as she shut down the computer. 'Time to leave.'

'Good, cause this place is giving me the creeps,' said Arthur as he winced at the sight of another body.

Outside the base, a man was hiding in the trees, watching the Minerva and the other ZAFT soldiers, moving around. He then switched on his radio and sent a message.

On board one of the Earth Alliance carriers from the battle of the Dardanelles, Neo was talking to a technician with Stellar attached to his arm.

'Sir,' said an officer as he approached. 'It's about the lad at Ladonia, ZAFT found it before we could blow it up.'

'That's disappointing but no matter, there's nothing there that they can use against us,' replied Neo.

As Stella was following Sting and Auel to the cafeteria, she mumbled out what she had heard the officer tell Neo.

'The Lab at Ladonia, what is it?' asked Stellar.

'The Lab at Ladonia, it was the place we lived before we came here,' answered Auel.

'Wonder what brought that up?' asked Sting.

'What's worse, ZAFT found it and Neo said…' continued Stellar before she was cut off by Sting and Auel.

'What!' exclaimed both of the boys.

'We have to go there, that lab is where my mother is,' said Auel as he activated his block word, causing him to shake.

'Get a grip,' said Sting as he grabbed Auel to try and calm him down.

'Mother's going to die,' screamed Auel, causing Stellar to freak out at the sound of her block word.

'I don't want to die,' stammered Stellar.

She then had images of Shinn holding her and telling her that he would protect her.

'Must protect mother,' said Stellar as she left the room and headed for the hanger.

'What are you doing ?' said one of the technicians when Stellar jumped into the Gaia.

'Open the door or I'll blow it,' said Stellar.

An explosion rocked the ship as Neo sat on the bridge.

'What was that?' he asked in shock.

'Sir, Stellar has taken the Gaia,' said one of the technicians over the radio.

'Why didn't you stop her?' he asked angrily.

'She took us by surprise and blew a hole in the hanger,' replied the tech.

'We can't do anything now, we have no hope of catching her,' said Neo reluctantly.

'Must protect mother,' repeated Stellar as she gunned the Gaia to the island where the lab is.

Back at the island, Gladys, Athrun, Shinn and Heero looked over the shoulder of the technician that was running over the data found in the lab.

'This is horrible,' the tech would say every now and then. 'What they force these poor kids to do. The chemicals they inject into them. It's like they don't even have control over their own bodies if they survive this place.'

'We should send this back to headquarters,' said Gladys.

Suddenly and alarm went off.

'What's going on?' asked Gladys as she picked up the nearest coms unit.

'It looks like the Gaia is headed this way,' said the radar officer from the Minerva.

'Is it by itself?'

'Yes Mam,' replied the officer.

'Shinn, Athrun, Heero, take it down but don't destroy it,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied Shinn and Athrun as the three ran off to their machines.

As they flew toward the location of the Gaia, all three pilots kept cycling the data they saw through their minds over and over.

'Those Earth Forces are monsters,' said Shinn as he broke the silence. 'They accuse us of being against nature and they do these things to children.'

'I know,' replied Athrun. 'Looks like we're getting close.'

All three looked at their radars and saw the IFF of the Gaia.

'Remember not to destroy it,' said Athrun.

'Argh,' yelled Stellar as she charged at the group.

All three dodged the attack.

'Surround it,' said Heero.

'Right,' replied Shinn and Athrun as they placed themselves on three sides of the Gaia.

'I'll get you,' said Stellar as she locked onto the Impulse and charged.

'Damn you,' said Shinn as he blocked the attack at swung his beam sabre at the right arm. 'How do we not destroy it?'

'Try and take out the main camera or disable the power supply,' said Heero as he attacked from the left.

Stella was able to get the shield up in time and blocked Heero's attack. Meanwhile, Luna was flying back in the helicopter and was blown sideways by the wind from the thruster's.

'What's going on?' asked Luna in surprise.

She then saw the Saviour, Impulse and Wing Zero engaging the Gaia.

'This isn't working,' said Shinn in frustration as the Gaia continued to focus its attack on him. 'Help would be nice.'

'Time to end it,' said Heero as he charged down from above and sliced the main camera and cockpit as he pulled out of the dive.

'Argh,' screamed Stellar as she fell towards the ground.

The other three machined hovered over the disabled mobile suit and zoomed in on the cockpit. All three pilots were shocked by the site.

'What?' asked Heero.

'A woman?' said Athrun.

Shinn zoomed in as far as he could when he saw the blonder hair.

'It's her,' said Shinn in shock as he realised who it was. 'Stellar.'

**The end of yet another chapter. I apologize for the lateness of this update. Been busy working and I've got a cast on my arm so typing is slow. Please read and review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: "Trust Me"**

Shinn landed the Impulse near the Gaia and ran up to the cockpit.

'Stellar, can you hear me?' asked Shinn with concern.

Stellar only groaned in response from the pain that was caused from the battle. Shinn unbuckled her from the cockpit and carried her to the Impulse before taking off and heading for the Minerva.

'Shinn,' said Athrun as he and Heero landed their machines.

'Let's take the Gaia back,' said Heero as he and Athrun grabbed a side of the black machine and flew back to the Minerva.

'What's going on?' asked Gladys from the Minerva's bridge as the radar showed all four mobile suits returning.

'We defeated the Gaia,' said Athrun over the video feed. 'We're returning it to the ship now. But there's something else.'

'What?' asked Gladys.

'You'll find out when Shinn arrives,' replied Athrun as he shut off the link.

Shinn landed the Impulse in the hanger and rappelled to the ground with Stellar in his arms.

'Shinn?' said one of the mechanics.

'Get out of my way,' yelled Shinn as he pushed past and headed for the infirmary.

'You'll be alright Stellar,' said Shinn as Stellar continued to moan.

'Neo,' she whispered.

Shinn busted into the medical bay and took both doctors by surprise.

'Help her, Please!' cried Shinn as he put Stellar on the bed.

'But she's and Earth Forces soldier, I need authorization from the captain,' said the doctor when he saw her.

'I'll get your damn authorization, just help her,' cried Shinn as he grabbed the doctor.

Stellar opened her eyes just as the doctor was looking at her wound.

'I don't know you,' she said as she kicked the doctor away.

She then made a move on the nurse only to be pulled away by Shinn. A struggle ensued and as Gladys approached she could hear the crashes and screams. She indicated for the guards to enter. They aimed their guns but lowered them when they saw Shinn holding onto Stellar with both doctors nursing bruises.

'Calm down Stellar,' yelled Shinn as he fought to hold onto the struggling girl. 'You're not going to die. It's me, Shinn.'

Stellar stopped fighting and turned to look at the person holding her.

'Stellar,' said Shinn as he thought he saw her calm down.

'I don't know you,' said Stellar as she started to fight against Shinn's grip.

'Just calm down alright,' said Shinn as he struggled to hold her.

'NEO!' cried Stellar before she passed out form the sedative that the doctor gave her.

'Follow me Shinn,' said Gladys as the doctor and guards placed Stellar on the bed.

Shinn followed Gladys to her office where Athrun was waiting.

'You know that you were in direct violation of military law my bringing her on board,' said Gladys as she sat at her desk.

'I know Mam,' replied Shinn.

'Not to mention that she is the Gaia's pilot and has been fighting us this whole time,'

'I know Mam.'

'I assume you know this girl, Stellar?' asked Gladys as she could see Shinn was upset by this revelation.

'Yes Mam,'

'So where did you meet her?'

'When we were in Diocuia. She fell into the water and couldn't swim. I jumped in and saved her. She was afraid of dying. I just thought she was a war victim.'

'I see. Well for the time being she will be a prisoner on this ship until we can alert the appropriate authorities. You are dismissed.'

'Mam,' said Shinn as he saluted and left the office.

On board the Earth Forces carrier, Neo was waiting to hear from Stellar.

'Sir,' said a communications officer.

'What is it?'

'Stellar and the Gaia have been captured by ZAFT,'

'This is most upsetting,' said Neo as he got up from his chair and left the bridge.

He made his way to where the Extended's slept.

'We've lost Stellar,' said Neo to one of the technicians.

'That's an unforgiving loss,' said the technician.

'Remove her from their memories,' said Neo.

'That'll take a lot of work.'

'Just do it,' ordered Neo.

He stood there and watched as the technician removed Stellar from Sting and Auel's memories.

'Is it right to meddle with a mind like this?' Neo asked to himself.

'What do you mean?' asked the technician.

'Never mind,' replied Neo as he left the room.

Under the ocean, the Archangel continued to wait for. Kira was standing near the window at the rear of the ship. His mind was filled with the conversation that he had with Athrun.

'Kira,' said Lacus as she walked up to Kira. 'Something the matter?'

'I'm just thinking about Athrun and why he's doing this,'

'I see,' said Lacus as Kira put his arm around her waist. 'I'm going to the Plants.'

'What?'

'I need to see for myself what is happening up there. I can't do it from down here.'

'But Lacus…' began Kira.

'I'll be fine. Trust me.'

'I do,' said Kira as he embraced her.

On the bridge, Waltfeld was looking for a way to get up into space undetected. The screen was filled with the broadcasts from all the stations.

'And tomorrow will be the last day of the Lacus Clyne tour,' said one of the screens.

'Bingo,' said Waltfeld.

Back at the Minerva, Luna was in Gladys' office. Filing her report of the spy mission she had.

'I trust that no one will hear of this,' said Gladys more as an order than anything.

'Yes Mam,' replied Luna. 'I do have some questions about the mission.'

'It's only natural. I'll answer what I can.'

'Why?'

'Because the Chairman had some issues about those two's loyalty as well as wanting to know about the Archangel. This Intel you brought should answer those questions.'

'I see,' said Luna. 'Thank you Mam.'

Luna then saluted and left Gladys to her thoughts.

Meanwhile, Shinn went to visit Stellar in the medical bay. He stopped in his tracks when he saw that she was tied to the bed.

'What's going on?' he asked a little upset by this.

'We're under orders to keep her restrained,' said the doctor.

'Why?'

'Because she is dangerous.'

'But she's wounded how could she be dangerous.'

Just then Stellar woke up from the sedative.

'Where am I?' she asked.

'Stellar,' said Shinn as he moved into her sight.

The sight of him and the doctors caused her to go into another fit.

'I don't know you,' she cried, thrashing against the restraints. 'Let me go.'

'Calm down,' said Shinn as he tried to embrace her. 'I'll protect you. You're safe. It's Shinn. Remember?'

'Shinn?' asked Stellar as she settled down to look at him.

'Yes,' said Shinn with a smile.

'I don't know you,' cried Stellar as she resumed her fight against the restraints.

'Here,' said the doctor as he injected her with another sedative.

Stellar began to relax and pass out again.

'What is wrong with her?' asked Shinn.

'The tests we ran showed high concentrations of chemicals that shouldn't be in the human body,' answered the doctor.

'Meaning what?' asked Shinn.

'She's one of the Alliance's Extended's.'

'I thought so,' said Gladys as she entered the room.

'She's one of those,' said Shinn in shock as he looked at the girl. 'Stellar.'

'Can you please leave Shinn,' asked Gladys.

'Mam,' responded Shinn as he reluctantly left the medical bay.

Heero meanwhile was sitting in the cockpit of Wing Zero, looking over the data that was recovered from the facility. He watched the footage of the test subjects fighting each other and this caused memories of his training to resurface. He could see his training as clearly as if he was there with Doctor J now. For some reason this caused him to feel uneasy. He left the hanger and made his way to the dining room. He sat down at a table as the memories continued to flood back.

Luna was walking towards her room when she passed the dining room and saw Heero sitting there. She quickly his behind the door as if she was still on the spy mission and she though that Heero had seen her. She shook herself out of the silly thought and looked back into the room. She saw Heero staring into space and could tell something was wrong.

'Heero,' said Luna to get his attention as she approached.

Heero looked up from the table at the sound of his name as he watched Luna sit next to him. For the first time, she could see some kind of emotion on his face, and it looked like sadness.

'Is something wrong?' asked Luna in concern.

'I'm just like them,' said Heero more to himself but knew that Luna could hear.

'Like who?'

'Those Extended's,' said Heero which caused Luna to look at him with a questioning gaze. 'I was forced to train to be a killer from a young age. I had my genes manipulated to improve my abilities. I had no choice in how my life was going to turn out. I grew up without a family or identity. Heero Yuy isn't even my real name. I'm just like them. I was told to kill so I did.'

More memories of his past came flooding back as he continued to talk. Luna didn't know what to say as she continued to look at the pilot who everyone thought had no weakness and was more machine than human. She could now see that he was just as emotional as everyone else.

'I killed my first person when I was ten years old. I was told that it was in retaliation to the assassination to Heero Yuy. It was like I was programmed. I had no control,' he continued as Luna gasped in shock at this revelation. He then remembered when he had regret over someone that was killed because of him. 'Then I killed that little girl.'

'What?' asked Luna in shock.

'It was a simple mission. Plant the explosives; wait until night than blow up the base. I did but one of the Leo's that was hit fell into a building. It crushed it and it was where the little girl with her dog lived,' said Heero as he pulled a pressed flower out of his pocket and looked at it.

**Flashback**

Heero jumped the fence of the base and ran down the hill. He did a summersault, landed on his back and looked up at the artificial clouds. He felt a shadow over his face and looked to see a little girl looking at him.

'Are you lost?' asked the little girl.

'I've been lost since the day I was born,' replied Heero.

'That's so sad. I'm not lost, I'm just taking my dog for a walk. Here,' said the little girl as she handed Heero a flower.

'Thank you,' said Heero as he took the flower and watched the little girl run away with her dog.

That night, Heero detonated the explosives.

'Mission complete,' said Heero as he watched the building and Leo's blow up.

The final Leo exploded and started to fall backwards towards a building.

'No,' cried Heero as he ran towards it in a vain attempt to stop it.

He could only watch in terror as the Leo destroyed the building as it hit it. Heero walked amongst the debri and stopped when he came upon the body of the dog. He picked it up and walked towards his shuttle.

Back at the base, Heero sat in his room as he listened to Doctor J talk to Barton.

'He can't have regret like this,' yelled Barton.

'He's only a boy. You can't expect Heero Yuy to not feel anything,' said Doctor J in defence of Heero.

'Then retrain him until he doesn't feel a thing.'

**End Flashback**

'Her death is the reason why I'm like I am. Her death was the only one I felt guilty about,' finished Heero as he felt the pain of her death coarse through his body.

Luna sat there in silence for a while before speaking.

'What is your real name?' asked Luna.

Heero then fully realised that Luna was there. He didn't want to answer but knew that it couldn't hurt since she heard everything else.

'Odin Lowe, after my father,' answered Heero before putting his "game" face back on. 'What you just heard is between me and you. Understand?'

Luna sat stunned for a minute as everything that Heero said went through her mind. She now had an even better understanding of the feared soldier and it deepened her fondness of him.

'Yes,' said Luna finally.

The two sat there in silence as Luna went and got something for them to eat. Heero knew that now that he had felt all of those old memories again, he would have to try even harder to control his emotions in battle. He now considered himself weak.

The next day, Lacus and Waltfeld arrived at the airfield where Meer was going to be leaving for.

'Hello everyone,' said Lacus as she hopped out of the Limo.

The crowd irrupted into cheers as she and Waltfeld made their way inside. They walked up to the man in charge.

'We'd like to leave straight away,' said Waltfeld.

'But the shuttle isn't ready yet. It'll take half an hour until it's good to go,' said the officer.

'Then get a move on,' said Waltfeld.

Lacus and Waltfeld sat down and waited for the shuttle to be ready. Lacus was signing autographs. Meanwhile, Meer pulled up outside.

'Where is everyone? Don't they know it's me,' said Meer in annoyance at the lack of people waiting.

She and her managers made their way inside. They saw two ZAFT soldiers holding autographs.

'Miss Lacus?' they said in confusion. 'Weren't you just over there?'

Meer and her managers rushed to where the officers in charge of the shuttle were. The officers were in shock when she arrived.

'Miss Lacus?'

'Stop them she's the real one,' said the manager by mistake before correcting himself. 'I mean she's a fake.'

'Stop that shuttle,' said the officer.

'No can do,' said Waltfeld as he shut off the comms and powered up the shuttle.

'Scramble the air defence,' ordered the officer.

Dinn's took off from their stations and started shooting at the shuttle. They were then disarmed as shots came from above.

'What was that?' asked the confused pilots as they saw the Freedom come out of nowhere.

'Kira,' said Lacus as she saw her boyfriend's Gundam.

Kira proceeded to destroy all of the military weapons and did a flyby of the base causing the windows to break. He then flew up to the shuttle.

'I'm coming with you Lacus,' said Kira as he opened up a channel.

'No Kira, you have to stay and protect the Archangel,' said Lacus.

'Don't worry kid I'll protect her with my life,' said Waltfeld.

'Please let me do this Kira. Trust me,' said Lacus in earnest as the line started to go fuzzy.

'I do Lacus,' said Kira reluctantly. 'Take care of yourself.'

'I love…' started Lacus but the line was cut off by the atmospheric interference.

Kira pulled the Freedom up as he watched the shuttle go into space. He then flew back to where the Archangel was hiding.

**And another chapter bites the dust. Please Read and review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: A Warrior's Rage**

On the Minerva, Shinn was constantly by Stellar's side in the infirmary. The next time he visited he brought in the shell that Stellar had given him. He placed it near her in hopes that it would make her feel better.

'All along you were the pilot of the Gaia,' said Shinn with sadness in his voice at the sight of the girl he was growing fonder of each day.

'Shinn,' said Stellar in barely a whisper as she opened her eyes and saw the shell.

'Do you remember me?'

Stellar only nodded her head in response as she was too weak to speak. Shinn stayed by her side as the doctor left the bay and headed for the captains office.

'She's getting worse captain,' said the doctor. 'The Earth Alliance must have some kind of special equipment for keeping her healthy. We need to get her to a proper medical facility or she will die.'

'I understand. We're heading for Gibraltar tomorrow. Just keep her alive until then.'

'Yes Mam,' said the doctor as he left the office.

The following morning, the Minerva left the port they were staying at and headed out to sea. Yet only a few hours away from them, the Earth Forces and Orb were waiting for them.

'If the Intel is correct, they should arrive at this location in a matter of hours,' said Neo as he spoke to Yuna, Todaka and other officers.

'Let us hope that the same mistake isn't made like last time,' said Yuna as if he was the voice of authority.

'What do you propose we do?' asked Todaka.

'We'll try the same plan as last time,' replied Yuna. 'The only reason it didn't work then was because of the interference of the Freedom and Archangel. Hopefully they won't return.'

'I agree,' said Neo. 'Tell the other ships to spread out in this pattern.'

'Yes Sir,' replied on of the officers as he activated the message system on the ship.

Kira arrived at the Archangel but he brought a friend.

'Hello young lady,' said Murdoch as he saw Miriallia exit the cockpit.

'Hello you,' said Mir as she greeted her old friend.

'Where's Elsman?'

'Oh I dumped him,' replied Mir with a grin.

Kira and Mir made their way to the bridge where she was greeted by Murrue and the other crew.

'It's been a long time,' said Murrue.

'It has. I had enough of photography and decided I'd be better use here,' said Mir.

Cagalli was sitting in Mir's old seat when a message alarm went off. Mir responded in an instant as if she had never left.

'It's a coded message from the Terminal. It reads "Earth Alliance and Orb forces preparing to engage the Minerva,"' read Mir.

'Kira?' said Cagalli in concern.

'We're going,' replied Kira as he headed back to the hanger.

'I'd be most grateful if you would retake that seat,' said Murrue indicating the one Cagalli was sitting in. 'All hands prepare for level on battle stations.'

There was a sense of urgency as the crew members rushed to their stations as the Archangel headed to where the Earth Alliance and Orb forces were waiting.

It was around noon when the Minerva came into the vicinity of Crete. Among the crew members there was a sense of calm before the storm. All of a sudden an alarm went off.

'Captain, enemy forces on radar.'

'What?' replied Gladys in surprise. 'Who are they?'

'Looks to be Earth Forces and Orb.'

'So they've some back to finish us off. Meyrin go to condition Red. Lower the bridge,' ordered Gladys.

'Going to condition red, all pilots to the briefing room,' said Meyrin over the coms system as the bridge was lowered for combat.

On board the Orb flagship:

'When they get in range, send up a barrage of fragmentation shells,' ordered Yuna. 'Instruct all ships to do the same.'

'Yes Sir,' replied Todaka.

On the Minerva:

The pilots had gathered in the briefing room. They were waiting anxiously to know what was happening.

'What's the situation?' asked Athrun as he opened a chat screen.

'The same forces from the Dardanelles were waiting for us,' said Gladys as her face appeared on the screen. 'Board your machines and wait for orders to launch.'

'Yes Mam,' replied Athrun as he shut off the screen and headed to the hanger with the rest of the pilots.

'Today they go down,' snarled Shinn as he put on his game face.

The pilots then ran to their machines and powered them up. As Heero activated Zero, the system instantly went into his mind and pulled out the memories that had resurfaced the night before.

'Stay out of there Zero,' instructed Heero as he knew he had to focus to control his emotions since he let his guard down already.

'Incoming missiles,' warned one of the monitors. 'They're breaking up!'

'Fragmentation shells,' warned Arthur in alarm.

'Hold all launches,' ordered Gladys.

Meyrin quickly shut down the catapults as the shells hit the ship all over. The impact could be felt by all as they were thrown about.

'Damage report,' ordered Gladys.

'Damage to most of the exterior armour. Another hit like that and it could be over.'

'Launch all suits before they try that again,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied Meyrin as she quickly rebooted the launch system and instructed the pilots to launch.

On the Orb flagship:

'Direct hit,' said the combat officer.

'I love it when a plan works. Now quickly launch all mobile suits before they have a chance to react,' ordered Yuna.

'Yes Sir,' replied Todaka as he gave the signal.

On EA ship:

'Sir Supreme Commander Yuna has ordered all mobile suits to be launched,' said the coms officer.

'He's too hasty,' said Neo. 'We'll let them launch first and see what happens. Keep all our pilots on standby.'

'Yes Sir.'

'_Today's the day we get revenge for you Stellar,_' thought Neo as activity irrupted all around.

Down in the hanger, Sting and Auel were walking to their machines. Auel stopped at the spot where the Gaia used to be.

'What's wrong?' asked Sting.

'It feels like we've forgot something,' replied Auel as he had a faint memory of Stellar standing there.

'Don't be stupid. Now hurry up and board the Abyss,' said Sting as he powered up the Chaos.

Wing Zero was the first to launch from the Minerva and flew straight at the squad of Murasame's that were coming towards him.

'Let's end this quickly Zero,' said Heero as he flew into the middle of the squad.

The Murasame's scattered and tried to pincer Wing Zero.

'Nice try,' smirked Heero as he split the buster rifle into two and spun around while firing.

This took out most of the squad as Shinn in the Blast Impulse and Athrun in the Saviour took out the rest while being amazed at how easily Heero had taken out those machines. Rey and Luna were watching form the Minerva and were watching in awe like everyone else as Heero took out another five suits with ease.

'What is going on?' asked Yuna in hysterics as he watched the three Gundam's take out his squadron's.

'It appears that those three mobile suits are quite powerful,' replied Todaka as he too watched in amazement at the three Gundam's capabilities, Wing Zero more than the others.

'I can see that. Tell the Earth Forces to send out their machines,' cried Yuna.

'Yes Sir.'

'Very well,' said Neo after receiving the message. 'Launch all Windam's. I'll launch with Sting and Auel.'

'Understood Sir,' replied the second in command.

'Take this,' yelled Shinn as he blew away another Murasame.

Suddenly the Impulse was hit from the side.

'What was that?' asked Shinn in confusion.

'You're going down today,' said Auel as he rammed the Impulse again.

'Damn it,' cried Shinn as he avoided an attack and flew backwards along the water surface, firing at the Abyss.

Up in the air, Athrun had destroyed another group of Murasame's when he too was blindsided. Athrun regained control of the Saviour and looked to see the Chaos hovering there.

'Not this guy again,' said Athrun as he dodged a shot and returned fire of his own.

The dog fight began as the Chaos took off and Athrun followed in the Saviour's fighter mode. The Windam's had launched from the Earth Forces carriers and were making a run at the Minerva.

'Here they come,' said Rey as he aimed the ZAKU's gun. 'Get ready Lunamaria.'

'Right,' replied Luna as she too charged up the cannon.

'This time that ship goes down,' said one of the pilots as he and the rest of the squad opened fire on the ship.

'Aim Tristan's, Fire,' ordered Arthur as the cannons fired a green energy blast at the squad of Windam's, taking down two. 'Put the CIWS of auto tracker. Fire launcher's one through five.'

The Minerva's weapons opened a barrage on the enemy mobile suits, causing them to scatter. As Rey and Luna were working on taking them out one by one, two more groups of Windam's and a group of Murasame's came into sight.

'There's too many,' cried Luna as she tried to shoot down all the machines in her sight.

'Maybe I can even the odds,' said Heero as he flew Wing Zero passed and sliced some Windam's with the beam sabre while shooting some with the buster rifle and opening up with the machine cannons on the rest.

Heero's attack left a few Windam's as well as the Murasame's. He was about to destroy them when he was cut off by a purple Windam.

'You're battle's with me,' said Neo as he engaged Wing Zero.

'This guy is good,' said Heero as he blocked a shot and returned fire while charging forward with his beam sabre.

Neo reacted and drew his own beam sabre to parry the blow. The duel began as the two mobile suits bounced of each other, blow after blow, with Heero sometimes firing the machine cannons of buster rifle.

The squad of Murasame's saw this as their opportunity. They quickly regrouped and started to make a run at the ship. When they were in range, they launched their missiles only to the have them destroyed by an energy beam form the air.

'What was that?' asked Gladys as her eyes along with everyone else's on the battlefield looked up to see the Freedom and Archangel arrive.

'Not them again,' said Neo as he let his guard down and felt impact as Heero slammed Wing Zero into him.

'Looks like they didn't take our hint,' said Heero as he continued his fight with the Windam.

All the mobile suits, except those two had stopped what they were doing as the legendary ship and mobile suit made their entrance. Kira hovered in the air as he took in the sight of the battlefield. From the Archangel, a pink mobile suit launched and pulled up behind the Freedom.

'Please stop,' came Cagalli's voice as she opened up all channels. 'Orb has no reason to be involved in this battle. Please disarm and return home.'

'Lady Cagalli,' said all of the Murasame pilots.

'Not this imposter again,' cried Yuna as he was sure this would lead to problems.

'They are persistent, aren't they,' said Todaka.

'I beg you to stop fighting,' continued Cagalli as she felt tears forming in her eyes. 'There is no need for this battle to continue.'

Down near the water, Shinn was listening to Cagalli's plea and every word made his anger rise.

'Why don't you shut up!' yelled Shinn as he activated his Seed factor and opened fire on the Strike Rouge.

'Shinn, NO!' cried Athrun in vain, but Shinn proceeded with his attack.

Kira blocked the attack and charged at the Impulse. The two machines exchanged fire as they flew across the water. The rest of the pilots took this as a sign to continue fighting as the Murasame squad again tried to attack the Minerva. Cagalli saw and made an attempt to stop them.

'Please stop,' she cried as she moved in front of the squad.

'Lady Cagalli,' said the lead pilot. 'I'm sorry but Yuna is in charge now and we do this for Orb.'

He then pushed past the Rouge and fired missiles as the ship. Rey and Luna tried to stop but some hit. The ship rocked from impact while Cagalli tried to stop them. Meanwhile, the Impulse and Freedom continued to exchange fire until Athrun flew down and blocked Kira.

'Stop this Kira,' said Athrun as Shinn moved the Impulse back towards the Minerva.

'Athrun,' replied Kira as he tried to get past.

Athrun blocked again and drew his beam sabre as an enforcer.

'I won't let you attack the Minerva,' said Athrun as the two mobile suits continued to fly about each other.

The Archangel sat to the side of the battlefield as the crew sat and watched the battle unfold. They had no intention of involving the ship this time. The Chaos and rest of the Windam's floated in the air as they had no idea of what was happening. Heero and Neo were still locked in their duel and the Abyss was flying beneath the water. It launched when the Impulse was in range.

'I've got you,' cried Auel as he fired and hit the Blast silhouette.

This caused it to blow as Shinn ejected it and pulled out the beam spear. He flipped over and threw it at the Abyss as Auel tried to shoot the Impulse point blank. Auel didn't have time to react as the spear went straight through the cockpit. The Abyss sank into the ocean as water filled the cockpit. Auel's last thoughts were of his mother before it exploded.

'Auel,' cried Neo as the signal disappeared. He then attacked Wing Zero with more aggression as he fought for revenge for two of the Extended's.

Shinn meanwhile has preparing to finish the battle.

'Minerva send out the Sword silhouette,' ordered Shinn as he flew into position.

The launch catapult opened as the Sword package flew out. Shinn faced the Impulse backwards as the silhouette drew nearer and Shinn was able to equip it. Once the connection was made, Shinn faced the Impulse towards the Minerva.

'Activate the Deutireon beam,' ordered Shinn as a green light connected from the ship to the head of the Impulse.

The power indicator showed that the Impulse was fully charged, Shinn then flew at the remaining Windam's as he focused his anger to inflict maximum damage. The enemy suits fell easily to the Excalibur swords as Shinn sliced his way towards the fleet.

Meanwhile Kira and Athrun were still locked in their duel.

'Can't you that what you're doing is wrong,' said Athrun.

'Can't you see that Orb should not be involved in this battle,' replied Kira.

'I can't control that.'

'If you hadn't left Orb then maybe Cagalli wouldn't have lost control,' said Kira as his attempt to get by was blocked.

'Just stop it Kira. Get Cagalli and go home.'

'I won't. Because right now Cagalli is crying her heart out because she doesn't want any more people to die. And if you won't help us, then I must defeat you,' said Kira as he activated his Seed factor and drew his beam sabre.

'Kira,' cried Athrun as he swung at the Freedom.

Kira was quicker as the Super Lacerta sliced through the arm of the Saviour. Athrun was stunned as Kira drew the other blade and sliced the mobile suit into pieces.

'Argh,' cried Athrun as the cockpit fell into the sea and Kira flew at a group of Windam's.

'Athrun,' cried Meyrin as the screen showed the Saviour was disabled.

The rest of the bridge turned their heads to look at the girl.

'The Saviour has been defeated.'

On the Orb flagship:

'Fire another fragmentation barrage,' ordered Yuna.

'But Sir, we should withdraw, we have hardly enough mobile suits to defend the ship,' said Todaka.

'But if we fire, we should defeat them,' cried Yuna in hysterics.

'Very well Sir,' replied Todaka as he gave the order.

Minerva:

'Mam, another fragmentation barrage incoming.'

'Get Rey and Lunamaria inside now,' ordered Gladys.

The catapult doors opened and Rey and Luna hurried to try and get their ZAKU's inside. They had almost made it when the shells hit. The ship rocked as the shrapnel penetrated most of the exterior hull. Smoke rose from most of the ship.

'The Minerva,' said Heero as he along with the other pilots had pulled up when they saw the impact.

'No,' said Shinn as he destroyed a Murasame and looked at the ship.

'This is our chance boys,' said the leader of the Murasame squad that was attacking the Minerva.

The three machines charged full throttle at the defenceless ship.

'Damn it,' cried Shinn as he tried to reach the ship, but he was too far out.

Heero saw the three suits charge and knew that if he didn't do something the ship would sink.

'I don't have time for you,' he said as he sliced of the Windam's arm and headed for the ship.

Neo used this to escape the battle and return to his ship. The Earth Forces had lost enough men today.

'We're retreating,' ordered Neo over the private EA channel so that Yuna wouldn't hear.

The Chaos and the remaining Windam's headed for the EA fleet as it started to withdraw.

The three Murasame's were closing in on the Minerva and could see no one there to stop them.

'Time to sink this ship,' said the leader at they targeted their remaining missiles.

'Not if I have anything to say,' said Heero.

'What the…' cried the leader as he turned to see Wing Zero fly past and slice through two of the Murasame's

He tried to get out of the way but Wing Zero was too fast and he too fell victim to its power.

Heero then hovered Wing Zero in front of the Minerva as a shield.

'What's the damage report,' asked Heero as he opened up the com link.

'Most of the ships exterior is damaged. The weapons are out of commission and Rey and Lunamaria got hit,' replied Gladys.

On hearing this last bit, Heero turned to the right and zoomed in on the pink mobile suit. He saw emergency crews climbing towards the cockpit. Heero saw a gash in the armour and zoomed in again. He could see Luna lying unconscious inside. He zoomed in one last time and gasped at the sight. Blood was flowing down her face and her eyes were closed in pain. The emotional control that Heero had been focusing on all day fell. He felt his anger start to rise as Zero took over him, allowing his emotions to be used. The cockpit started to glow gold as Heero's breathing became erratic and he gripped the control stick until his knuckles cracked. He turned Wing Zero back towards the battlefield and Zero showed Heero that his enemies were there, the enemies that had hurt Luna.

'I…will…DESTROY YOU!' he cried as Zero took full control of his body.

Everyone in the vicinity froze as they heard this cry of anger. Those who had heard Heero knew that this wasn't his calm, controlled focus that he normally maintained.

'What is going on?' asked Gladys as she sat stunned with fear.

Zero then made Heero aim his buster rifle at the group of Murasame's that were closest. He held in the button to charge up the rifle. The pilots didn't know what to do as they were too frightened to move.

'Don't do it,' cried Kira as he flew the Freedom down to block the attack.

'Get out of my way,' cried Heero as he blocked the Freedom with the shield and sliced off the arm and head with the beam sabre. He then pushed Kira away as he re-aimed the buster rifle.

The shot he fired destroyed the entire group as Heero pushed all of the thruster's to the max and was thrown back in his seat as he charged at the remaining mobile suits.

'Cagalli, retrieve Kira and return to the Archangel,' ordered Murrue. 'We're leaving.'

'Right,' replied Cagalli as she picked up the Freedom from the Minerva's deck and flew towards the Archangel.

Heero, meanwhile, continued his attack of carnage as he tore through the Murasame's on his way to the fleet. Shinn hovered away from the battlefield. He was too stunned to move in fear of being attacked.

'I've never seen anything like this,' he said to himself as he watched Heero destroy everything in sight.

The Earth Forces fleet started to sail away but pulled up out of range as they witnessed Wing Zero turning the battlefield into a junk heap with all of the destroyed mobile suits.

'I'm glad we left when we did,' said Neo as he couldn't take his eyes off the carnage.

On the Orb flagship:

'What's is going on?' cried Yuna in full hysterics. 'Someone stop that machine.'

'It's too late,' replied Todaka as he watched Wing Zero destroy the front line of ships in the fleet.

'Destroy all of my enemies. They are all my enemies,' said Heero as he tore through three more carriers and headed to the secondary line.

'Sir evacuate the ship,' said Todaka as he pushed Yuna towards the door. 'The helicopter is waiting.'

Yuna was too stunned to move. Todaka then knocked Yuna out and instructed an officer to take him to the chopper.

'All hands abandon ship,' ordered Todaka to all remaining Orb ships.

'I'm staying,' replied Amagi.

'No, if you want to help Orb, gather everyone and head for the Archangel. They will end this war, just like last time,' said Todaka as he pushed the bridge crew out the door.

On all of the remaining ship, crew members were boarding life rafts and the pilots were launching in their Murasame's. Once all of the crew had left, Todaka turned to face his destiny as Heero tore through the last lot of ships before arriving at the flagship. Wing Zero flashed its eyes as Heero sliced through the bridge before flying into the air and firing the buster rifle. The ship exploded into flames and joined the rest of the fleet as floating debri.

The crew members that had escaped boarded the Archangel and left the battlefield. Zero told Heero that all enemies had been destroyed and to return to the Minerva. When he arrived, he landed Wing Zero in the hanger and opened the cockpit. He made to grab the cable but fell forward and landed on the hanger floor. There was a gold aura around him as the crew members rushed up. Heero lifted his head to see an image.

'Relena,' he whispered as he thought he saw the girl he once fought to protect.

The image came into focus as Heero started to regain control.

'Luna,' he whispered before fainting.

**That's it for this chapter. Please read and review. I'm going to try and update a chapter a day.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Shinn's Decision**

The Minerva sat in a cove a couple hours away from the previous battle. Repairs were being slowly made as support ships arrived from Greece. It would take a whole month before the Minerva would be ready for battle again. Never before had the ship suffered the amount of damage that it did. As Gladys inspected the repairs, she was thankful that they were able to get out of it alive. She made her way to the medical bay to see how the three pilots were doing.

When she arrived, she took in the sight of the three pilots.

'How are we doing?' asked Gladys in a cheery voice.

Luna and Athrun jumped to their feet to salute but Gladys stopped them.

'You need to rest,' she said as she waved off the salute. 'Though you must be feeling alright if you can manage that.'

Athrun had hardly a scratch on him while Luna had her right arm in a sling and a bandage on her head.

She then looked over to where Heero was still lying unconscious. He had bandages wrapped around his waist and his arm looked out of place. She walked over to his bed with Athrun and Luna. All three looked at the unconscious warrior. Gladys noticed that Luna was looking at him with a lot of concern in her eyes.

'How is he doing?' asked Gladys.

'He suffered three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and broken arm. Whether it was caused by the G's in the suit or the way he fell I wouldn't know. I was just about to fix his arm when you came in,' replied the doctor. 'But what got me was that he had abnormal neural activity when he was brought in.'

'What do you mean?' asked Gladys.

'It was like there were two minds in his head. But the levels returned to normal after a while.'

'What could have caused that?' asked Gladys again.

'Zero,' said Luna more to herself but everyone heard.

'Zero?' questioned Gladys.

'It's the system in the cockpit. Heero always says that Zero told him this or Zero showed him that. It's like he speaks with it. Heero also said that it is connected to him,' answered Luna.

'That's right,' backed up Athrun

'But what caused him to go berserk?' asked Gladys as she remembered hearing Heero's voice before he destroyed the Orb fleet.

'He must have lost control of his emotions,' stated Luna.

'What do you mean?'

'When he first arrived I asked him what the Zero system was. He told me about it and the fact that it can take control of the pilot if Zero can access the pilots mind freely. He said he needed to control his emotions in battle or Zero would take control of him,' continued Luna.

'But how?' asked Gladys as she wanted to know. 'All the times I spoke to Heero he was always calm and never broke his solid expression. In a way I didn't think he knew how to relax.'

Athrun and the doctor stood silently as they listened to Luna speak. They were curious as to why Luna knew so much about Heero.

'He relaxed that day he took me to the beach,' said Luna before she could stop herself.

'What?' stammered Athrun as he saw her turn red.

'He took me to the beach in Diocuia the day before we left. He looked like he was relaxed and said more then I'd ever heard him speak before. He acted more like a normal teenager then a soldier.'

'But why did he lose control?' asked Gladys again as she still hadn't got her answer.

'He was protecting the ship. He told me once that Zero said he needed to protect this ship because it was important,' replied Luna.

'That's right,' came a croaky voice from the bed near them.

The group looked stunned as they saw Heero sit up in the bed. He immediately grabbed his injured arm.

'Great,' he said as he felt the broken bone and dislocated shoulder.

The group cringed as they heard the sickening crack of Heero setting the bone into place.

'You should let a doctor do that,' said the doctor.

'Yeah but there may not be a doctor nearby on the battlefield. Besides, doing your leg is worse,' he replied as he got up off the bed and walked to the wall.

He twisted his shoulder a few times before slamming into the wall and popping the shoulder back into place. Luna cringed again at the sound.

'Much better,' said Heero as if what he just did was like doing up your shoes.

He proceeded to grab a bandage and wrap it around the arm and shoulder. When he got to the end, he tried to tie it off but didn't have much luck.

'Here,' said Luna as she managed to tie the knot with one of her good hands while Heero helped with his one.

'Thanks,' said Heero as he looked at Luna while she walked back to her bed.

'Now you get some rest,' said the doctor as Athrun and Gladys left and Luna fell asleep.

'I'll be fine,' said Heero as he left the infirmary and headed for the hanger.

On board the Archangel, the surviving Orb soldiers were standing in front of the Archangel's crew.

'And then he said if we wanted to help Orb, then we should get to the Archangel,' said Amagi as Cagalli felt tears form in her eyes from hearing about the death of Todaka. 'Please forgive us for our stupidity.'

The whole of the Orb soldiers bowed their forgiveness as Cagalli put her hand on Amagi's shoulder.

'I should be asking you for forgiveness for my weakness to prevent this from happening,' said Cagalli as all of the Orb crew started to cry.

Kira walked up and placed his hand on his sister's shoulder.

'Kira?'

'You're all alive, so that's something to be thankful for. Now is the time to decide how to act. Remember what Lacus said. "First decided and then do it." Your actions need no forgiveness. You did what you felt was right at the time. So now you can decide to help us fight this war or you can return to Orb,' said Kira.

'We are at your service, Master Kira,' said Amagi as he and the rest of the Orb crew bowed.

'Uh,' stammered Kira as he didn't know what to do.

Murrue couldn't help but laugh at Kira's disarray.

Back on the Minerva, Heero was sitting in his cockpit, looking over the footage from the battle. His thoughts were disturbed when the cause of his battle rage appeared at the cockpit.

'You're supposed to be resting,' said Luna sternly.

'You don't need much energy to watch a video,' said Heero smartly.

Luna lent in and looked at the footage. She saw Heero take out five Windam's with one attack while taking out another group of Mursame's with another.

'Do you remember it?'

'Not really. That's why I'm watching to try and see if I can. I had no control over my actions that day. I hate it when I lose control like that.'

'So did you really lose control because of the ship?' asked Luna as she felt like it was a silly reason to go psycho.

Heero looked at Luna, wondering whether or not he should tell the truth. He was about to answer when someone called out from the hanger floor.

'Luna, want to get some lunch?' called Meyrin.

'Coming,' replied Luna. 'You get some rest.'

'Don't have time,' said Heero as he watched Luna leave on the scissor lift.

'There's something about her Zero, but I don't know what,' said Heero as he watched Luna walk to her sister before leaving the hanger. 'First I tell her things I've never told anyone, I save her life countless times and because of her I lost control like I never have before.'

Zero's eyes flashed as he talked to Heero.

'Maybe you're right Zero. Maybe I am about to fall like Duo always said. But if she's the reason I fall then that means that I can never go back home.'

Zero's eyes flashed again as Heero listened to his oldest ally.

'Maybe it is destiny, but for now I'll ignore it for we still have work to do, ' said Heero as he continued to watch the battle where he became an unstoppable killing machine.

Later that night, Shinn was on his way to visit Stellar when he heard her name mentioned from around the corner.

'She is too valuable to let die,' said Gladys. 'The Chairman wants her brought to Gibraltar for tests to be done. They can't be conducted when she's dead.'

'I understand,' said the doctor as they ended the discussion and left the area.

Shinn couldn't move as he felt his stomach shrink at what he had heard. He knew that she couldn't stay on the ship yet he didn't what to let her go.

He headed to his room and decided on a course of action. He hacked into the mobile suit library and searched for the Gaia's IFF. Once he found it, he transferred it onto a portable drive and headed for the infirmary.

'It's about time doctor,' said the nurse when she heard the door open.

She turned and expected to see the doctor their but was shocked when she saw Shinn before he knocked her out. The doctor walked in just as Shinn lay the nurse on the floor.

'What's going on?' asked the doctor as he reached for the alarm.

Shinn saw and reacted quicker than the doctor, knocking him out too. He walked up to Stellar's bed and saw she was in bad shape.

'Time to get you out of here,' said Shinn as he grabbed the bed and wheeled it out of the medical bay.

He checked that the coast was clear and headed for the hanger. He was lucky that everyone was asleep as he didn't see anyone walking about. When he reached the hanger, he didn't notice the three guards standing near Wing Zero.

'Hey you,' they called as they went after Shinn.

Shinn then pulled up and prepared to confront the men but didn't get a chance as Rey took them out from behind.

'Hurry up,' said Rey.

'You don't have to get involved,' said Shinn.

'It's my choice. I'll activate the catapult,' he replied as he headed for the launch room.

Shinn picked up Stellar from the bed and jumped into the Core Splendour.

'Neo,' said Stellar weakly.

'Don't worry, you'll see him soon,' said Shinn as he powered up the fighter.

'You're clear,' said Rey over the coms.

Shinn launched and the rest of the Impulse followed as some other guards had arrived as the alarm went off from the unauthorised launch. The Impulse joined together and Shinn headed for a small island. He activated the Gaia's IFF and sent out a radio message.

'Sir, we're picking up the Gaia's signal,' said the radio officer on the Earth Alliance ship.

'What was that?' asked Neo in surprise at what he just heard.

'There's an incoming message.'

'To Neo. Stellar is waiting. Come alone to this location. I repeat. To Neo. Stellar is waiting. Come alone to this location.'

'Sir?' asked one of the officers.

'I'm going. Back me up if I signal,' ordered Neo as he headed for the hanger.

On the small island, Shinn sat in the Impulse as he waited for Neo.

'Hang on Stellar, he'll be here soon,' said Shinn as he sensed Stellar growing weaker.

The alarm went off as it showed the Windam approaching. Neo zoomed in on the mobile suit and was shocked to see the Impulse. He landed his machine opposite the Impulse and opened his cockpit, Shinn did the same.

'Neo?' asked Shinn.

'Yes,' replied the masked man.

Shinn then proceeded to take hold of Stellar and used the cable to go to the ground. Neo did the same and approached Shinn as he saw Stellar in his arms. When he was only a few meters away, Shinn pulled a gun to make Neo stop.

'Before I give her to you, promise me that you'll take her away from war and dying. Promise me,' said Shinn.

'I give you my word,' replied Neo.

Happy with the answer, Shinn lowered the gun and allowed Neo to claim Stellar.

'Shinn,' said Stellar weakly as she saw the raven haired pilot looking at her.

'Don't you forget about me,' said Shinn as he felt tears start to form.

'I guess I owe you my thanks,' said Neo.

'I don't care about that stuff. Just remember what you promised,' replied Shinn.

He was about to leave when he thought of something. He pulled the jar with the shell from his pocket and gave it to Neo.

'She's really fond of it,' said Shinn 'Remember me Stellar.'

With that, he turned and ran to the Impulse as he knew he couldn't stay there any longer. Neo and Stellar watched Shinn leave in the Impulse, and Neo felt guilty about making a promise he knew he couldn't keep. The events that took place were about to alter the course of the war.

**Eighteen down, forty-three to go. Please read and review.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Destroy the Destroy**

As soon as Shinn landed in the hanger he was arrested and brought to the captain's office. When they arrived, Gladys waved the guards and Athrun away.

'Well I can see that you know you're going to be punished,' said Gladys as she looked at Shinn.

The pilot in question just starred at Gladys without speaking.

'Do you have anything to say?'

'I didn't rescue her so she could be treated like some kind of experiment. Everyone forgot that she was a human being that had been mistreated,' said Shinn as he raised his voice.

'Be that as it may, what you did was in direct violation of military law. In normal circumstances you would be subject to the death penalty. But since it is war you will be detained until we hear from headquarters,' said Gladys as she pushed a button on the desk.

The guards that brought Shinn in had been waiting outside. 'Escort Shinn to the brig.'

'Yes Mam,' said the head guard as he led Shinn away.

Gladys slumped back in her chair as she went into deep thought about the past events.

When Shinn arrived at the brig, he saw that Rey was already in one cell.

'I'm sorry about this,' said Shinn once the guards had left.

'Don't worry about it. I know why you did it,' replied Rey.

As the two continued to talk, Athrun walked in and went to Shinn's cell.

'Why did you do it Shinn?' he asked.

'Because I wasn't going to stand by and let her be chopped up like some kind of alien,' spat Shinn.

'I didn't realise she meant that much to you,' said Athrun.

'Well I'm fond of her but it doesn't mean I'm obsessed or anything. But no one treated Stellar like she was human.'

'I see. But you do realise that you gave the enemy back one of its weapons.'

'No. That guy promised me that he was going to take her away from the war.'

'And you were stupid enough to believe him.'

Shinn stood up in anger at that last comment and walked up to the cell door. He stood there, just staring at Athrun.

'Athrun, are you telling me that you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were in his position?' asked Rey to try and calm the situation.

'Well…I…' started Athrun.

'Exactly, so just let it be. What's done is done.'

With no more to say, Athrun turned and left the brig.

'Thanks Rey,' said Shinn as he sat back down.

Three weeks had passed since Shinn had given Stellar back to the Earth Alliance, and repairs on the Minerva were almost done. They were preparing to move to Gibraltar but unforseen events were about to delay their plans.

High up in the mountains of Western Eurasia, the Earth Alliance were planning their next attack.

'For failing to defeat the Minerva, you will take the new mobile weapon, and end the rebellion in Western Eurasia,' said Djibril on a recorded message as Neo sat at his desk.

Neo brought up the mission plan as the message ended and observed their course of action. He hated the fact that he had lied to the boy that brought back Stellar but fully intended to put her back into battle.

The following day, he, Stellar and Sting, made their way to the hanger of their land carrier. Standing there was a giant black mobile armour that looked like a disc on legs.

'That's your new machine Stellar,' said Neo.

'My machine?' asked Stellar curiously.

'Yes Stellar. You have to use it to get rid of all the bad, scary things or they will kill you.'

'I don't want to die,' she whimpered as she clung onto Neo's arm.

'You had to destroy them Stellar so they don't get us. Can you do it?'

'Yes,' said Stellar shakily.

Neo boarded his Windam while Sting boarded the Chaos and Stellar hopped in the Destroy.

'I don't know why you don't let me pilot it,' said Sting.

'The data says that Stellar will be more efficient at using it,' replied Neo.

The Earth Alliance land carrier left its base and headed for the first ZAFT base in Western Eurasia. Once they arrived, Stellar deployed in the Destroy and Sting and Neo provided back up. As soon as the ZAFT forces saw the machine, they opened up an all-out assault to try and stop it. Stellar destroyed the ZAFT forces with ease while levelling the city in the progress. Once all activity had ceased, they moved onto the next town, continuing the carnage.

All around the world, news stations were showing the devastation caused by the Earth forces new weapons.

'We have to stop that,' said Kira as he and the rest of the Archangel looked in shock at how much destruction was being caused.

'The Archangel is heading out,' ordered Murrue as Kira headed for the hanger.

On board the Minerva, the same feelings were being expressed as the crew watched the footage.

'How horrible,' said Meyrin as the Destroy took out another city.

Heero was watching in Wing Zero's cockpit when Zero flashed its eyes and spoke to Heero.

'I know Zero. It's time,' he said as he left the hanger and went to his room.

Gladys was sitting in her office with Arthur when they received a message from headquarters.

'It says that in light of service and recent events, Shinn Asuka and Rey Za Burrel are to be cleared of any charges and the Minerva is to assist with the destruction of the Earth Alliance's new weapon.

'What?' asked Arthur just as confused as Gladys.

'Order the Minerva to head out at once,' ordered the Captain.

Shinn couldn't hide his relief at being let out of the brig. All of the crew started talking when both pilots walked past. When Shinn spotted Athrun, he couldn't help but gloat.

'Looks like I'm in the clear. They must have realised that I was right,' he said with a snicker.

'We are approaching Berlin, Shinn and Heero board your machines.

'Later,' said Shinn as he headed for the hanger.

Heero was nearing the briefing room when Luna bumped into him.

'How you feeling?' asked Heero as the two walked together.

'I'm fine. What about you?'

'I'm good. Have you seen what's been happening?'

'Yes. That weapon is so monstrous. I hope we arrive in time to save this city.'

'Don't worry I'll stop it,' said Heero as he started to apply his emotion block to focus on the battle.

As Heero stopped to open the change room doors, Luna quickly gave him a peck on the cheek. Heero was again stunned by the action.

'That's for luck. Thought I doubt you'd need it,' said Luna as she started to blush.

Heero then did something he's never done before and wrapped his arm around Luna in an embrace.

'Thank you,' he said while Luna instinctively did the same while continuing to blush.

He didn't know whether he was doing this because he knew he may never see her again or because it was instinct. It was at this moment when Shinn emerged through the door.

'Not interrupting am I?' asked Shinn smartly as the two pulled apart.

'Of course not,' replied Luna sharply as she tried not to blush.

'Good. Hurry up and get ready Heero. We need to take this thing out,' said Shinn.

'Roger that,' replied Heero as he entered the change room and Shinn and Luna sat on the couch.

At Berlin, Stellar was causing massive damage as she eliminated a majority of the ZAFT forces. Sting and Neo still couldn't get over its power. Suddenly, a green beam hit the Destroy as Stellar looked up to see the Freedom and Archangel. She was caught off guard as Kira activated HiMAT mode and easily flew in and fired the rail cannons only to be stopped by the shields.

'What is that thing?' asked Kira as he flew out of the line of fire.

'I'll get you,' cried Stellar as she fired the disc lasers all around, toppling buildings and hitting ZAFT forces.

It was at this time that the Minerva arrived.

'Look it's the Archangel,' said Arthur in surprise.

'It would be great if we could work together this time,' said Gladys as they got closer to the battle.

In the briefing room, Athrun and Rey had arrived and they, as well as Shinn and Luna, stood in awe at the sight of the Destroy. Heero seemed unfazed by the sight as he'd fought the Epyon and it was the toughest suit he's fought.

'Look at the size of it,' said Shinn as he stared.

'Shinn and Heero board you machines,' said Gladys over the intercom.

'Right,' said Heero and Shinn together as they headed for the lift to the hanger.

As Heero neared Luna, she quickly leant near him so she could whisper.

'Be careful.'

'Roger that,' replied Heero in the same whisper as he knew she didn't want the others to hear.

The two pilots boarded their machines and launched at the battle. Heero immediately fired the buster rifle, only to have it blocked.

'Damn it,' said Shinn as he had expected the weapon to cause some damage.

'Looks like this will be harder than we thought, Zero,' said Heero.

Kira noticed the two Gundam's and flew over to them.

'Let's try attacking all at once,' he suggested over the radio.

'Right,' replied Shinn and Heero as all three pulled the beam sabres and charged at the Destroy.

Stellar saw the attack coming and pushed a button on the console. The Destroy started to stand up and caused the three pilots to halt their attack.

'What is that?' asked Shinn.

'It's transforming,' said Heero stunned as he hadn't predicted this.

'Into a mobile suit,' finished Kira.

The Destroy finished its transformation and what had been the head, became a backpack and a pair of arms emerged. It had three cannons on its chest and one in its mouth.

'Resume the attack,' said Heero quickly as he saw the cannons start to glow.

The three machines started to charge again, but the Freedom and Impulse were knocked aside by the Chaos and Windam respectfully, leaving Heero to fend off the red beams when they fired.

'That was close,' he said as he dodged the attack and looked to see the beams topple another building.

Cagalli was watching from the bridge and knew she had to do something.

'They need help,' said Cagalli as she headed out the door.

'Let us help you,' said one of the pilots as they followed after her.

Stellar was firing the Destroy cannons all over the place, hitting everything in sight. Heero couldn't even get close as the beams moved everywhere. Shinn and Kira were busy dealing with the Chaos and Windam.

Suddenly, the Strike Rouge and five Murasame's knocked the two Earth Alliance suits aside.

'We'll take care of these guys,' said Cagalli over the radio.

'Right,' said Kira as he and Shinn regrouped with Heero.

'Freedom, fire Full-burst at it while I fire the buster rifle. Then Shinn you charge in and try to hit the cockpit,' said Heero.

'Right,' replied both pilots.

Kira locked on with Full-burst and Heero fired the buster rifle. Shinn flew behind the beams as they approached the Destroy. The attack looked like it was going to hit, but Stellar launched the arms and the shields diverted the attack, leaving Shinn open to be hit by the head cannon. He reacted just in time as the beam barely missed the Impulse.

'Damn it,' he cried as he flew back to the other two. 'Nothing is working.'

'How about from above?' suggested Kira.

'Try it,' replied Heero as he and Shinn diverted the Stellar's attention and Kira charged from above.

Stellar had no idea what was happening as Kira flew down and sliced the cockpit. The Destroy fell backwards from the attack and Shinn was about to finish it off when he was blocked by Neo.

'Stop it,' said Neo.

'I can't let it hurt anyone else,' cried Shinn as he tried to shake off the Windam.

'But the pilot, it's Stellar,' cried Neo.

Shinn pulled up his attack as Stellar stood up the Destroy and looked at the enemy gundams. Shinn zoomed in on the cockpit and saw the frightened face of the girl he saved.

'What are you doing?' asked Kira as he dodged and attack and tried to hit it.

Shinn moved in and blocked the Freedom.

'You stop it. You don't understand. The pilot it's her,' cried Shinn.

All the crew of the Minerva sat stunned as Shinn revealed the identity of the pilot. Heero was floating above the battlefield as Zero told him what he had to do.

'I understand Zero,' said Heero as he looked to his right to see the Chaos attacking.

'Die,' cried Sting as he charged at Wing Zero.

Heero dodged the attack and sliced the Chaos into six pieces as it fell towards the ground. He then turned his attention back to the Destroy. Shinn was trying to get Stellar to stop.

'Stop Stellar. It's me Shinn.'

Stellar looked up at the sound of his name. The Destroy was on auto fire as the arms and backpack continued to fire green beams. Shinn moved the Impulse towards the cockpit as Stellar continued to stare at the source of the name.

'I promised I'd protect you. You won't die.'

Kira was hovering above and was about to attack when Neo blindsided him. Kira took off and made the Windam follow.

'Murrue, pick up this pilot,' said Kira as he did a backflip and charged at the Windam.

Neo threw a dagger at the Freedom but Kira blocked with the shield and disabled the mobile suit. It crashed with a thud as Kira flew back to the Destroy. Once he arrived, Heero opened a private link.

'Kira, it's time,' said Heero.

Kira knew exactly what Heero meant.

'What are we going to do?' he asked.

'Shinn has Stellar distracted. Even though she may be about to stop fighting, Zero says we still need to destroy it. I want you to fly in as fast as possible and stab the beam sabres into the chest cannon. Then I'll shoot the rest with the buster rifle,' said Heero as he split the rifle into two.

'Right,' said Kira as he began to put the plan into action.

The Archangel had arrived where the Windam had fallen and Murrue gasped in shock at the sight before her. The mask had fallen off Neo and the face made her start to cry. She quickly sent out someone to pick up the unconscious pilot.

Shinn meanwhile was making progress with Stellar. She had disengaged the Destroy and it looked like she was about to stop fighting when she caught sight of the Freedom.

'I don't want to die,' yelled Stellar as she powered up the chest cannon.

'No you don't,' yelled Kira as he flew in and plunged the beam sabres into the Destroy.

'Stellar!' cried Shinn as the cockpit started to explode.

Heero then rapidly fired at the Destroy as the head cannon started to power up. The impact from the attack caused the Destroy to fall backwards and explode as Stellar was flung from the cockpit. Once it looked like the Destroy was finished, Heero signalled to Kira that it was time to leave. They both turned and headed for the Archangel.

'Where's Heero going?' asked Gladys.

'Heero Yuy, where are you going?' asked the coms officer but Heero had turned off the radio.

'I don't think he's coming back,' said Gladys.

Luna, Rey and Athrun were just as confused as to why Heero was leaving with the Freedom.

'Is he leaving us?' asked Luna as she started to feel upset at his departure.

'It seems that way,' replied Rey.

Athrun then remembered the conversation that he had with Kira and Heero and knew what he was doing.

Shinn meanwhile hadn't even noticed the departure of the Freedom and Wing Zero as he landed near the Destroy, concern in his face as he scanned for Stellar amongst the rubble.

**A strange turn of events wouldn't you say. Please Read and Review.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for the wait on this chapter. I hope all the readers had a good Christmas or whatever their religion celebrates. Please enjoy.**

**Chapter 20: Logos Revealed**

Shinn landed the Impulse amongst the rubble caused from the battle with the Destroy. He found Stellar lying near the destroyed machine. He slowly walked up to her as tears started to form in his eyes.

'Oh Stellar,' he said as he knelt down beside her and took her in his arms.

'Shinn,' she said weakly as she opened her eyes and looked into the face of the raven haired pilot.

'Oh Stellar I'm so sorry,' he said as he took her hand in his.

'You said you would protect me, Shinn,' she said while Shinn couldn't help from letting the tears flow more freely.

'Shinn, I love you,' she managed to get out before the life left her eyes and her body went limp in Shinn's arms.

'STELLAR!' he cried out as the girl he liked left him forever.

The Minerva had flown in and Gladys was shocked when she saw Shinn's face as he carried Stellar's body in his arms towards the Impulse. Once there, he powered up the mobile suit and flew away from Berlin. He made his way up into the mountains and landed near a small lake. He opened up the cockpit and with tears on his face he picked up Stellar's dead body and carried her onto the Impulse's arm.

'I'm so sorry Stellar,' wept Shinn as he held her close. 'I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you.'

He gently laid her body into the water and watched as it slowly floated beneath the surface.

'But you're safe now, in peace away from war where nothing can hurt you. Rest in peace Stellar. I'm so sorry.'

As her body disappeared into the dark depths, Shinn broke down as he let the tears flow freely down his face. Snow began to fall as he continued to weep and say that he was sorry. Once all the tears had left his eyes, he raised his head in anger as he started to feel his body become fuelled with the rage he felt towards Heero and the pilot of the Freedom.

The Archangel had made its way far from Berlin and was sitting in the mountains, recharging the ship and making necessary repairs. The Freedom landed in the hanger and all the crew members gathered as the watched Wing Zero land and waited anxiously to see the pilot. Only Kira, Cagalli and Mir knew who it was. As Heero made his way to the ground, the same silent exclamation that was heard on the Minerva was made at his age. They watched with unease as he made his way to Kira.

'Kira, Cagalli, Miriallia,' said Heero in acknowledgement.

'Heero,' said all three in reply.

The crew members were all shocked at the way that Heero greeted them. They quickly remembered the two battles they had previously had when Heero was on board the Minerva and were starting to feel on edge.

'Kira,' said Murrue to break the silence. 'Since you seem to be acquainted, would you mind introducing us.'

'Right. Murrue Ramius this is Heero Yuy, pilot of Wing Zero. Heero already knows who you are as well as anyone else,' replied Kira.

'And how does he know that?' asked Murrue curiously.

'Let's just say that I have access to more files then Orb, ZAFT and the Earth Alliance put together,' said Heero with a smirk.

This made Murrue look at the young pilot strangely at his sense of humour. Kira couldn't help but laugh.

'He means he hacked into the main databases and learnt everything about this world,' said Kira.

This still didn't help Murrue's reaction.

'He's not from this world. It's a long story,' said Kira.

'But for now we need to try and get back to the ocean as quickly as possible, I have a feeling that ZAFT will come after us after Durandal makes his announcement,' said Heero.

'What announcement?' asked Kira.

'Zero says you'll find out in a few hours,' replied Heero.

'Zero?' asked Kira, Mir, Cagalli and Murrue.

Wing Zero flashed its green eyes in response which made everyone jump.

'That's Zero,' said Heero in response. 'It's the system in the Gundam that can accurately predict the outcome of nearly every battle based on the strength and weakness of the mobile suits and pilots. But the system only works if you can control it. You saw the other day what happens when I lose control of it.'

'I thought something must have happened. You sounded different then when you talked to me and Athrun that day,' said Kira.

'Yes I hope it never happens again. Hopefully what set me off never happens again,' replied Heero as he remembered seeing Luna in the ZAKU and then having Zero take control of him.

'What happened?' asked Cagalli curiously.

Heero didn't answer but merely gave her a look to say don't ask again. He then turned back to Kira.

'So the time has come has it?' asked Kira as he remembered what Heero said in Berlin.

'Yes. I feel now that I'm best needed here with the events that are about to unfold,' replied Heero.

'What are you both talking about?' asked Cagalli as she along with everyone else had no idea what was going on.

Heero and Kira then began to explain the conversation that Heero had with Athrun and Kira all those months ago.

**Flashback:**

Kira led Heero and Athrun to the dining room and locked all the doors according to Heero's request.

'This must be really important,' said Kira as he took a seat along with Athrun while Heero remained standing.

'More important then you could imagine,' replied Heero. 'As you could probably tell, I'm not from this universe. I was sent here when an explosion made between the shot from my Gundam's buster rifle and the section of the space fortress I hit sent me and Wing Zero into a vortex and I woke up in this world as Junius Seven was falling towards Earth.'

Kira and Athrun both had a confused expression on their faces so Heero continued.

'But that's not really important right now. What is important are the events that are about to unfold. I believe that this disaster will cause another war between Naturals and Coordinators. I take it that everyone has seen the images taken by the Earth Forces from Junius Seven?'

'Yes,' answered Kira as he remembered the images that were broadcasted world-wide that showed the Ginn's setting the boosters that set Junius Seven in motion.

'From the Intel I have read, Zero has shown me the most likely outcome. Within the next forty-eight hours, the Earth Alliance will declare war on the Plants if they do not surrender to the Earth Alliance's demand. Zero says that they will declare war anyway and attack the Plant's with nuclear weapons. From what I gathered on Durandal he won't give into the demands and will be preparing for war. I also stumbled across a message between certain members of the Orb government and the Earth Alliance. Orb is going to join the Earth Alliance and will give up the Minerva as a peace prize to show their allegiance once war is declared.'

'What?' said Kira and Athrun a little louder than planned as they stood up from their seat's.

Heero merely nodded his head and continued. 'I also found out that Yuna Roma Seiran is planning on marrying Cagalli.'

Kira and Athrun merely stood stunned at this last revelation.

'That is where you come in Kira. You will need to abduct Cagalli from the wedding and hide undersea until you are needed in this war. Though from what Zero told me you will most likely have to pilot the Freedom once again soon though we haven't figured out why. Athrun you may need to go back to the Plant's and see what is happening up there first hand. You may find something up there that will give better clarification into the Chairman's actions.'

'What are you going to be doing Heero?' asked Athrun.

'I'm going to stick with the Minerva until Zero tells me otherwise,' replied Heero. 'I take it that this conversation will be kept in confidentiality.'

'Yes,' said Kira and Athrun.

Heero looked them in the eyes and knew that they were telling the truth.

'Good. I will leave now. Good luck to both of you. Oh and you may receive something from Erica Simmons sometime within the next six months,' he added to Kira.

'I take it that it is vital to what you just told us,' responded Kira.

'Yes,' replied Heero as he left the room.

Kira and Athrun continued to sit at the table as they heard Heero start up his bike and head off. The two pilots sat there in silence for some time until Athrun left without saying anything and headed back to Cagalli's house.

**End Flashback:**

Kira and Heero finished their recollection and the crew stood there gobsmacked. It took a while before anyone spoke.

'So everything that you told Kira and Athrun has come true?' asked Cagalli.

'Yes and now we are soon going to become involved in something much more deeper than just Natural vs Coordinator and I have a feeling that Durandal will not want us around to interfere,' answered Heero.

'I see,' replied Murrue as she went into deep thought over what Heero and Kira just said.

'You're present has come,' said Kira as he looked at the back of the hanger that had a mobile suit crate lying there.

'Good, I will need it soon,' replied Heero as he walked up to the crate and looked inside.

There in lay his new weapon that was custom designed for his needs. He then made his way back to the group who led him to his quarters as the crew began work on the ship and mobile suits. Heero was just at the hanger exit when he quickly remembered something vital.

'Stay out of Wing Zero's cockpit or it'll be the last thing you ever do,' said Heero to the crew.

This made them back away from the Gundam and Heero laughed at their faces filled with fear. They then suddenly noticed something strange about Wing Zero.

'Aren't you going to power it down before you leave?' asked Murdoch.

'It is powered down, my Gundam doesn't use Phase Shift since the Gundanium it's made from is five times more powerful than your armour.'

'I see,' replied Murdoch as he took another look at the mobile suit.

Back on the Minerva, Shinn was sitting in his room, typing away furiously on his computer. Rey walked in and noticed the concentration on his face.

'What are you doing?' asked Rey as he walked over to the desk and looked at the screen.

'I'm trying to beat the Freedom but it won't work,' replied Shinn in frustration as he lost another simulation.

Rey looked at the footage that Shinn was using and was impressed by Kira's skill at piloting it.

'The Freedom is a powerful machine but the pilot uses it like an extension of the body, impressive use of the thruster's,' he said.

'I just can't beat it,' said Shinn as he hit the desk.

Outside the room, Athrun had arrived and entered.

'What are you doing?' he asked as he looked at Rey and Shinn at the desk.

'I'm running a battle simulation with the Freedom,' replied Shinn without taking his eyes off of the screen.

'Why?'

'Because it's powerful and I want to beat it.'

'Shinn!' said Athrun in anger as he made for the red eyed pilot.

Rey managed to get between them.

'Athrun, what Shinn says is not unthinkable. The Freedom and Archangel have not declared their intentions so it may be possible for us to have to fight them in the future, as well as Wing Zero now that Heero has deserted. And considering your history any information you have would be helpful,' said Rey as he turned back to the screen.

Athrun didn't know what to say as he looked at Shinn, Rey and the screen and decided to leave. He was walking towards the rec room when he bumped into Luna. He noticed that she was looking upset and decided to ask what was wrong.

'It's nothing,' she replied when Athrun asked what was up.

'You sure, I've never seen you look this miserable before.'

'It's just that, why did he have to leave. I thought he liked it here,' said Luna in an outburst.

Athrun knew who Luna was talking about and knew why Heero left but he was sworn to secrecy thought he wanted to tell her.

'I'm sure that Heero had his reasons. After all he wasn't a soldier of ZAFT and he could leave whenever he wanted though I'm not sure the Chairman would see it that way.'

'But I thought that he'd…' started Luna though she didn't really know what to say.

'You had feelings for him, didn't you?'

Luna started to go red but didn't get time to answer because an announcement started over the ship.

'People of the Earth and Plants. I come before you today to talk about the cause for this war,' came Durandal's voice.

'It's the Chairman,' said Athrun as he and Luna entered the rec room to see Durandal's giant face on the screen.

All over the Minerva, the Earth and the Plants, people had stopped their activities to listen to the announcement.

'As you know it was started thanks to a group of Coordinators that dropped Junius Seven towards Earth. I took full responsibility for that and made every effort to provide disaster relief. But throughout this was it has been the Earth Alliance that has been the aggressor, including this latest incident in Berlin.'

The screen then showed the battles that the Minerva and other ZAFT forces had fought in and stopped with the Destroy in Berlin.

'The Freedom and Wing Zero are gone,' stated Athrun as he noticed only the Impulse flying around the giant mobile suit.

'But it is not the Earth Alliance's fault entirely. It is the fault of those who control them. We all know of Blue Cosmos but it is the ones that created Blue Cosmos that are to blame.'

'SHUT IT DOWN!' screamed Djibril as he knew where Durandal was going.

'They have been with us since antiquity. They are known as the military-industrial organization or simply Logos. I move to eradicate Logos and bring an end to this war.'

All over the screen were pictures of the members of Logos. Many people knew or recognized some of those people.

'Chairman,' said Gladys.

'He actually did it,' said Shinn with a big grin.

All over the world people were in support or against Durandal while some couldn't decide. Aboard the Archangel the crew were stunned at this revelation, except for Heero.

'So this was the announcement you were talking about?' asked Kira.

'Yes. It is time we left, ZAFT will be after us very soon. Durandal doesn't want us interfering in this operation,' replied Heero.

On board the Minerva, Gladys was sitting in her office with Arthur when she received a message.

'It's from headquarters. It says that we are to make out way to Gibraltar for the fight against Logos but first we are to assist with "Operation Angel Down".'

'Operation Angel Down?' asked Arthur.

'It says that since the Archangel and Freedom have continued to interfere with the war effort they are a risk and must be destroyed. It also says that Heero Yuy has been declared a deserter and must also be removed from play.'

'I see,' said Arthur.

'Prepare the ship we're heading out,' ordered Gladys.

Back at the Archangel, Murrue was sitting by the unconscious body of Neo Roenoke. She couldn't help but stare at his sleeping form.

'Has the patient woken up?' asked Kira as he, Mir, Heero and Cagalli entered the med bay.

'No but his DNA continues to give one hundred per cent match to Mu La Flaga. So it is his body lying there. I hope his memories are too,' she replied with a tear.

'So this is the Commander?' asked Kira.

'I'm a Captain,' said Neo as he had woken up and heard everything. 'Just cause I'm your prisoner doesn't mean you can demote me.'

Neo looked around the room at the stunned faces, (except for Heero), and stopped on Murrue's upset one.

'What's the matter beautiful, falling for me?'

Murrue couldn't take anymore as she left the room in tears with Mir following.

'Hey Mu!' yelled Kira as he rounded on Neo.

'I don't know who this Mu is. I'm Captain Neo Roenoke,' said Neo.

Kira took one last look at Neo before leaving with Heero and Cagalli following.

'He'll eventually remember,' said Heero as he walked past Murrue.

Suddenly the alarm went off and a voice spoke over the intercom.

'ZAFT vessels approaching from behind.'

**That's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Please read and review.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: Operation Angel Down**

After the announcement, Heero ran off to the hanger with Kira in toe while Murrue and Cagalli made for the bridge.

Once Heero activated Wing Zero, Zero placed a vision in Heero's head.

'I know,' he said as he opened up a link to the bridge. 'Captain Ramius, once you make it to the ocean, I need you to wait underwater until I give you the signal to resurface. Then I'll need you to meet me at these coordinates.'

'Ah…,' said Murrue sounding a little confused.

'Don't worry Murrue, we can trust Heero,' said Kira.

'Understood,' answered Murrue finally.

'I'm heading out now to stop the ZAFT forces at the rear. Kira, you stay here and protect the Archangel until the Minerva appears,' said Heero as he walked Wing Zero to the catapult.

'Right,' replied Kira as he walked the Freedom to the other one.

Heero launched into the air and immediately headed towards the approaching ZAFT vessel. The radar went off as Wing Zero appeared and the commander launched all of the DINN's and Bacue's.

'This shouldn't take long Zero,' said Heero as he fired the buster rifle and took out three of the Bacue's while slicing down a DINN.

A small battle ensued between Wing Zero and the ZAFT forces as Heero stopped all of the attempts made to get passed him and get to the Archangel. The commander of the vessel was impressed by Wing Zero's power but his admiration was soon gone when he received a message from Gladys.

'The Minerva is finally here. It's about to intercept the Archangel,' said the commander to his crew.

As the Archangel rounded a bend, the Minerva came into sudden view.

'Avoid it,' ordered Murrue as the canyon was too thin for two ships their size.

Newman flipped the Archangel onto its side and flew past the Minerva who turned around as quickly as it could to follow.

'Launch Shinn in the Impulse,' ordered Gladys.

Shinn was waiting in the briefing room, going over the plan that he and Rey had come up with. He heard the announcement for him to launch and was just at the elevator when Athrun appeared. The two glared at each other as they really had nothing to say. Outside, Kira in the Freedom was trying to make some distance between the Minerva and Archangel, but was knocked out of the way by the Impulse.

'You have to deal with me first,' said Shinn as he blocked Kira's attempts to get back to the Archangel. 'You killed Stellar and now you'll pay.'

Shinn went into Seed mode and went on an all out assault on the Freedom.

On the Minerva's bridge, Gladys was contemplating whether or not she should try and get the Archangel to surrender. She made her decision as she picked up the phone.

'Archangel, this is Captain Tahlia Gladys of the Minerva. Because of your continuous interference and attacks on our ship, you have been classified an enemy of ZAFT. Our orders are to destroy you but if you surrender now I'll do everything I can to ensure your safety. Gladys out.'

'What is she doing?' asked the ZAFT land carrier commander as Wing Zero had already cut his forced in half.

'It seems that the Captain doesn't want to fight either but…' said Murrue as she picked up the phone. 'This is Murrue Ramius of the Archangel.'

'It's her,' gasped Arthur.

'_I thought so_,' thought Gladys as she remembered meeting her in Orb.

'We appreciate your offer but we still have work to do. We will not surrender but we hope that you will let us take our leave from this battle. Ramius out.'

'Captain?' asked Arthur.

'Open fire on the enemy ship,' ordered Gladys.

'Yes Mam,' replied Arthur as he activated the Minerva's weapons systems and started firing on the Archangel.

'We have no way to return fire,' said Murrue as she realised that they were in no position to fight. 'Try to avoid fire until we reach the ocean.'

Newman started moving the ship in evasive manouvers to try and avoid the Minerva's attacks. He was having minimal success in doing so.

'I'm heading out,' said Cagalli as she got up from her seat.

'Sit back down now,' barked Murrue.

Outside, Kira was having little luck of his own, getting passed Shinn. It was like he was able to predict all of his attacks. Shinn was enjoying the fact that he was beating Kira.

'_Rey was right_,' he thought as he avoided another shot to Kira's frustration.

**Flashback:**

'It is a powerful machine but look at how it attacks,' said Rey. 'It only aims for the main camera or the weapons. That is how you will beat it.'

**End Flashback:**

It was at this point that Shinn decided to put the plan into action. He purposely attacked high so that Kira would fly backwards and try to attack low. Shinn predicted this and detached the legs which took Kira by surprise. He then turned around and fired at the Freedom's wings. Kira turned around only to see a shield coming at him. Shinn used the shield to bounce a shot and hit the Freedom in the shoulder armour. Next he launched the Force Silhouette and detached the core splendour to fire at it. The explosion knocked the Freedom backwards and gave Shinn his chance.

'Send out the Force and Sword Silhouettes,' he ordered.

The Minerva sent out what Shinn requested. He connected with the Force Silhouette and picked up one of the swords and the beam boomerang. He threw the beam boomerang and hit the Freedom. Next he charged full speed at the Freedom with the Sword raised.

Down on the ground the Archangel had made it to the water but Gladys wasn't going to let that happen.

'Fire the Tahnhauser,' ordered Gladys.

The Minerva fired the positron cannon and managed to hit one of the Archangel's engines as it disappeared beneath the surface. Up above Kira had seen what happened to his ship and was trying to get back but was stopped by Shinn.

'No you don't,' cried Shinn as he neared the Freedom.

'No,' cried Kira as he tried to get his shield up to stop the attack.

But the Sword was too strong and it went straight through the shield and pierced the Freedom which fell into the water followed by a large explosion.

'I did it,' wept Shinn as the Impulse lost power. 'Stellar I did it.'

On board the Minerva, Athrun had broken down in tears at the sight of his best friend's death.

'Kira!' he cried out.

On the bridge, Gladys was about to start a search for the Archangel when a message was received from the ZAFT land carrier.

'Help us Gladys, Wing Zero has…' as the line went static.

'Get Shinn back here, Wing Zero is approaching,' ordered Gladys as she knew that Heero had wiped out the ZAFT forces.

'Do you think that Shinn can handle him?' asked Arthur in concern.

'Only if we attack him as well,' replied Gladys as she watched Wing Zero approach from the rear camera.

The Archangel and Freedom appeared to have been destroyed and Heero was the only one left to defeat so that Durandal would feel safe with his plan to eliminate Logos.

'Let's hope Shinn is up to this challenge,' said Gladys as Shinn was re-equipping the Impulse.

Heero pulled Wing Zero up just out of range of the Minerva's cannons and surveyed the battle field.

'Heero,' said Luna as she, Rey and a distraught Athrun looked at Wing Zero on the screen.

Rey was hopping along with Gladys that Shinn was up to the challenge.

'Looks like Kira and the others have gotten away,' said Heero to himself.

He looked to see Shinn flying toward him in full attack mode.

'You killed Stellar,' yelled Shinn as he swung at Wing Zero with his beam sabre.

Heero dodged and pulled out his own to parry the next attack.

'It had to be done, she wasn't in control of her own actions,' replied Heero as he fired the machined cannons to push Shinn back.

'That was no excuse to kill her. I was making her come around.'

'Not from where I sat,' replied Heero as he swung his beam sabre to keep Shinn at bay.

The Minerva meanwhile had spun around so it was able to fire at Wing Zero. It opened up with the Tristan's, which Heero avoided easily.

'This is going to be harder than I thought, Zero,' said Heero to his machine. 'We can't destroy Shinn or the Minerva but we can't die either.'

Zero flashed as he told Heero the plan.

'Roger that Zero,' said Heero as he fired the Buster rifle at the Tristan's, causing them to explode.

'You bastard,' yelled Shinn as he attacked Heero from behind.

This caught Heero off guard and Shinn managed to sever the right arm of Wing Zero.

'Damn it,' said Heero as the right arm exploded.

Shinn was delighted with his attack and went at Wing Zero full force. Heero managed to take most of the blows on the shield while dodging the Minerva's attacks and using the machine cannons to keep Shinn off him when possible. Shinn was forcing Heero closer to the Minerva and soon had him close enough.

'Fire the Tahnhauser,' ordered Gladys.

At the range they were at, Heero had no way of escaping the blast, so he faced the Minerva and returned fire with the Buster rifle. The two shots hit with incredible force and sent the Wing Zero backwards into the mountain. The left arm was now gone too and Wing Zero was starting to implode from the amount of electrical overcharge.

'Looks like this is it, Zero,' said Heero as he looked over the damage report.

Zero flashed his eyes in response.

'I know,' replied Heero.

There was a cloud of smoke over the battlefield and the Minerva and Shinn had lost sight of Wing Zero.

'Where is he?' asked Shinn.

'He's near the mountain beside us,' replied Meyrin.

The smoke cleared and there was Wing Zero, armless with bits of it exploding and catching fire.

'He's finished,' said Shinn as he charged at Wing Zero to finish him off.

The machine cannons opened fire on the Impulse until the rest of the ammo had run out. The Gundam then started to glow red as Shinn was closing in.

'Get Shinn and the Minerva out of here,' ordered Gladys as she knew what was happening.

The Minerva and Impulse had just reached as safety zone when Wing Zero exploded, causing an avalanche to fall over the remains, burying it beneath tonnes of snow. Once the snow dust cleared, Shinn and the Minerva's crew looked to see no more Wing Zero.

'Is it over?' asked Shinn.

'Wing Zero's has disappeared from radar,' said Meyrin.

'We did it,' shouted Arthur in joy. 'We beat Wing Zero.'

In the briefing room, Rey, Athrun and Luna could only stare at the screen in shock.

'They got Heero too,' said Athrun.

'He got what he deserved for deserting,' said Rey.

Luna then looked at Rey in anger before leaving the room in tears. Gladys ordered Shinn back to the Minerva and headed towards Gibraltar. A search team was on route to search for any sign of the Archangel, Freedom or Wing Zero.

**Chapter 21 down. Please Read and Review.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: A New Mission, a New Gundam.**

There was a sense of joy and sadness on board the Minerva as it sailed towards Africa. The crew that had witnessed the battle we upset over Heero's death but happy that the thorn in their side had been removed. Gladys was sitting on the bridge and was feeling a little upset herself.

'Go and check on your sister Meyrin, I have a feeling that she may be quite upset,' said Gladys when she remembered seeing Luna's face after Heero ended up in the infirmary and what Luna had told them.

'Yes Mam,' said Meyrin as she got up from her seat.

Meyrin arrived at her room and knocked on the door.

'Sis, are you alright?'

'Go away Meyrin,' cried Luna without removing her head from the pillow.

As Meyrin left the door, Luna got up and went to her cupboard. She opened it up and took out the jacket that Heero had given her to wear that night in Diocuia. She wrapped her arms around it as she lay back down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Shinn landed the damaged Impulse in the hanger and was greeted by loud cheers as he lowered himself to the ground.

'You did it Shinn.'

'You'll get another medal for this.'

'Greatest pilot out there now.'

Shinn looked from one admirer to another as he too couldn't help but grin with pride and joy over what he had done. He looked over to Rey who merely nodded his head. That was all that was needed as Shinn's smile grew. He then noticed Athrun walk into the hanger and walked up to him.

'I got revenge today. For you and me,' he said.

Athrun clenched his fist in rage and sent Shinn flying to the floor.

'Kira wasn't even trying to kill you. Yet you just ran him threw like he was nothing.'

Shinn got up and charged at Athrun. Rey and the others got between them.

'Calm down the both of you,' said Rey. 'Athrun, Shinn defeated a powerful enemy that hadn't declared its intentions. There is no need for you to hit him. I understand how you feel since you knew the pilot. So I suggest that you try to restrain yourself.'

Athrun could only glare and grind his teeth as he had no intention of speaking to them. He turned and left the hanger as he vented his anger. After Athrun left the hanger the group continued there celebration.

Back at the battle field, Heero Yuy was watching the Minerva sail away from the safety of a bunch of rocks. Once it was out of sight he moved towards the rendezvous point he had indicated to the Archangel. After a walking a while he saw the damaged ship sitting in a cove. Mechanics were running all over putting out fires and patching holes. When he got within range the surveillance camera's picked him up. Murrue opened the rear hatch and went to greet him with Cagalli.

'So you made it,' said Murrue when she saw the blue eyed pilot.

'Just. I wasn't sure for a while but Zero made it so I should,' replied Heero.

**Flashback:**

The left arm was now gone too and Wing Zero was starting to implode from the amount of electrical overcharge.

'Looks like this is it, Zero,' said Heero as he looked over the damage report.

Zero flashed his eyes in response.

'I know,' replied Heero.

Using the smoke as cover, Zero opened up the cockpit and Heero climbed out and ran along the mountain using the smoke and snow as cover. Once a safe distance away, Heero stopped running and looked back at the battle. Wing Zero had charged back at the Impulse and was getting hit all over. Once all of the machine cannon rounds had run out, Zero activated the self-destruct and blew up. Heero felt a small pang of sadness as his long-time ally disappeared as a wall of snow covered the remains. Heero then moved to better cover as he waited till the Minerva went away.

**End Flashback:**

'So Wing Zero's gone then?' asked Cagalli.

'Yes,' replied Heero.

'So now you don't have a mobile suit anymore?' asked Murrue.

Heero looked at Murrue and gave her a half-smile as he walked up to the mobile suit crate. He pressed a button and the sides dropped down. He hopped into the cockpit and activated the machine. As the suit stood up, all present were looking at a blast from the past. There stood Wing Zero as if it was fresh out of the box, only it was bigger and had a few new accessories.

'I had Erica Simmons build this for me when I first came here,' said Heero as he poked his head out of the cockpit after powering it down.

'So you remade your old Gundam?' asked Cagalli.

'Yes and no. Same suit design and basic weapons but I added a few new technologies. Like the beam shields on the forearms, a nuclear power centre, beam Gatling's in the machine cannons, it can also jamming system to not appear on enemy sensors and I made it bigger to account for the bigger boosters.'

'I see,' replied Murrue.

'And I'll be heading out soon, but I'll be back' said Heero. 'So how did you manage to escape?'

'We were running from the Minerva towards the ocean like you said and they hit one of our thruster's.'

**Flashback:**

'Captain, we can't out run them like this,' said Newman as the ships power started to drop.

'I have an idea,' said Murrue. 'Once Kira is safely aboard, detach the engine and set it to blow up. Hopefully we can fool them.'

'I'll get Kira,' said Cagalli as she headed for the hanger.

She launched the Strike Rouge just in time to see what was left of the Freedom floating down.

'Kira,' she called out over the radio. But there was no response as Kira had been knocked out from Shinn's last attack.

She quickly scooped him up and headed for the rear hatch. Once she was on board with the Freedom, Murrue detached the unstable engine and got a safe distance away before it blew up.

Above the lake, those on the Minerva witnessed an explosion and thought that the Archangel was destroyed but Gladys wasn't convinced with the amount of debri floating on top of the water.

**End flashback:**

'I see,' said Heero after Murrue finished her recollection. 'So is Kira alright?'

'Yes he's in the medical bay at the moment. He's a bit banged up but he'll live. He's more upset that he lost the sword that Lacus gave him as he keeps putting it,' answered Cagalli.

'So what do we do now?' asked the captain.

'I say you should head for Orb and Erica Simmons' facility. She'll take you in until we find out what will happen next. I have a feeling that Durandal will start his campaign against Logos now that he thinks we are out of the picture. I'll go on a reconnaissance mission to Gibraltar,' answered Heero as he disappeared back into Wing Zero's cockpit.

'Understood,' replied Murrue. 'We'll head there as soon as we are able too. Will you meet us at Orb?'

'I will, good luck,' called back Heero as he closed up the cockpit door and headed for the hanger exit.

Murrue and Cagalli watched as Heero powered up Wing Zero's boosters and flew off. Heero typed in the activation code for the Zero system and felt a sudden jolt in his mind as he bonded with the system.

'Welcome back old friend,' said Heero as the new system read Heero's mind to obtain the Intel it required.

The Minerva pulled into the port at Gibraltar. The bridge crew could see plenty of Earth Alliance ships as well as ZAFT.

'Looks like a lot more people have been influenced by the Chairman's words then we thought,' commented Gladys as she looked around the harbour.

'Just imagine if the Earth Forces decided to attack us here. We'd be finished,' said Arthur in a lame joke voice while Gladys just glared at him.

When the Minerva docked it was greeted by a representative to the Chairman.

'Would Athrun Zala and Shinn Asuka please head to the armoury?' asked the rep after he greeted the Captain and crew.

Shinn and Athrun walked into the dark hanger, unaware of what was waiting.

'Shinn, Athrun so good to see you again,' said Durandal as the two pilots came into sight.

Meer practically jumped into Athrun's arms when she saw the faith pilot.

'Athrun, I can't believe you're here,' squealed the Lacus impersonator.

'It's good to see you too Lacus,' replied Athrun though he was growing tired of the hoax.

'Chairman Durandal,' said Shinn in acknowledgement of his leader's presence.

'I'd like to thank you for defeating the Freedom and Wing Zero. You removed a painful thorn from our side,' said Durandal as he extended his hand to the red eyed pilot. 'I believe another medal is awaiting you collection for you heroics. Thanks to you we can now move onto out next objective.'

'Thank you very much Sir. I was only doing my duty,' replied Shinn as he took the Chairman's hand.

'Yes I know you were,' said Durandal with a sort of evil smile as Athrun looked at him questionably. 'But that is why I have summoned you here. Please look over there.'

The two pilots looked to were the Chairman was pointing and Shinn couldn't hide his smile at what they saw. Standing there were two brand new mobile suits.

'May I introduce the Legend. It features the state of the art DRAGOON system. It is even more advanced than the previous one, giving the pilot complete control. And this is the ZGMF-X42S Destiny. It is based on the Impulse and incorporates most of its weaponry. I am told that it is the most powerful mobile suit built. These are your knew machines.'

'My new machine,' gasped Shinn in pure joy as he stared at the Destiny.

'Shinn I am giving you the Destiny. I understand that the Impulse is no longer capable of keeping up with you reaction and skill. I foresee that you will not have that problem anymore.'

'Thank you very much Sir.'

'And Athrun I am giving you the Legend. The DRAGOON system, can you handle it?'

'These machines are for the fight against Logos I take it?' asked Athrun in reply as he glared at Durandal.

'Athrun,' warned Shinn as he glared at the green eyes pilot.

'Yes they are. I see that you are not too comfortable with this new course of action. It is for peace between Natural's and Coordinator's that we are doing this. Bur you must be tired from all the fighting and not thinking straight. Hopefully in the morning you will be thinking more clearly. I will see you then,' finished Durandal as he left the hanger with Meer in toe.

Athrun took one last look at the Legend and left while Shinn stayed behind and started going through the manual. As Athrun headed towards the barracks he was staying at he continued to feel sick to his stomach at not being able to see through the Chairman properly. He now knew that Kira was right and that Durandal was as manipulative as the Earth Forces. He wished that he had listened then but Heero told him to stay. This must have been why. Heero must've known that he needed to see the deception in the Chairman for himself. Athrun climbed the stairwell to his room and sat on his bed feeling miserable as he sent one thought through his mind after another.

Heero landed Wing Zero just outside the base with the jamming system and cloaking device activated. (Similar to Deathscythe Hell). He quickly scanned for enemy patrols and downloaded the blueprints for Gibraltar as well as the room list.

'So Durandal and the crew of the Minerva are in that building as well as other important dignitaries,' commented Heero to Zero as he scanned the list. He pulled up when he saw the room Luna was staying in.

A quick thought crossed his mind and Zero caught him out.

'I know Zero, I'm not here for her. I'll leave that building alone. If the Minerva wasn't assigned there I'd blow it up as well. But that doesn't mean I can't look around,' he replied as he exited the cockpit and entered the compound.

Meer was walking towards Durandal's room when she heard the Chairman talking to Rey. She pulled up outside the door and listened to the conversation.

'What are your thoughts on Athrun?' asked Durandal.

'He is a skilled pilot but I do not believe that he is in full support of your cause. When the Freedom and Archangel were destroyed, he felt remorse over it rather than celebrating like the rest.'

'I see. I'll use the battle against Logos to test his loyalty. If he fails I think it'd be best is he was removed from play.'

'Yes Chairman.'

Meer had heard enough and headed for Athrun's room. Once there, she banged on the door frantically. Athrun opened it up and Meer barged in.

'You have to get down to the hanger like that Shinn kid,' she said while dragging him by the arm.

'What for?' he asked as he tugged his arm back.

'Because the Chairman and that Rey guy don't trust you. You have to show them that you are or they'll kill you.'

'I see,' he said as he sat down. 'The Chairman just wants me to be his pet mobile suit pilot to use whenever he wants, but I don't think I will.'

'Athrun Zala, open up. We have some questions for you,' said a guard as he banged on the door.

Athrun looked at the door before smashing the window and jumping out. The guards barged in and looked at Meer on the ground and the smashed window. The headed outside and couldn't see him. Athrun then jumped from the roof and disabled the three guards. He then reached back through the window and pulled Meer after him. The two ran down the stairs until Meer suddenly stopped.

'Come on Meer, the Chairman is just using us to justify his own cause. He'll do the same to you that he's doing to me.'

'No, he needs me. And what's wrong with that life. I get to be Lacus as long as I'm loyal.'

'But you're not Lacus, now come on.'

'I am Lacus. I'm her,' she started to cry as she sat on the stairs.

Athrun knew there was no hope in trying to get her to listen so he continued down the stairs.

Meyrin was walking to her room when she heard the alarm go off and saw guards barging into people's rooms.

'What is going on?' she asked herself as she sat down at her computer.

She heard her door open and looked up to see someone in a red uniform.

'Athrun,' she said but Athrun placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from talking.

'Please don't scream,' he pleaded as he removed his hand.

'Are they chasing you?' she asked.

'Yes, because I won't do the Chairman's bidding anymore,' he replied.

There was banging on the door and Athrun knew they were here.

'Scream when I break the window.'

Meyrin looked at Athrun before grabbing his hand and dragged him into the bathroom.

'What are you…' he began but was caught off guard when Meyrin started taking off her clothes.

Athrun was at blushing stage when she stopped at her underwear and turned on the shower and wet her hair. She then grabbed a towel and headed for the door. She opened it and had the guards stunned by the sight they saw.

'What's going on?' demanded Luna as she walked up to the door. 'Meyrin what are you doing answering the door in a towel?'

'Hey sis, I was in the shower and they were going to break down the door,' she answered in an innocent voice.

'Move along now,' ordered Luna as Meyrin closed the door and the guards headed off.

As soon as she shut the door, Meyrin collapsed to the ground and started shivering from the cold. She looked up when Athrun placed a bath robe around her shoulders.

'Thank you,' he said before heading for the window.

He was stopped when Meyrin reached out and grabbed his foot.

'The hanger, you need to get to the hanger,' she said with chattering teeth.

Once warmed up, Meyrin sat at the computer and hacked into the security system. She set off an alarm near the far docks which sent the search patrol over there. She then got dressed and followed Athrun outside.

'Wait her, I'll go get a jeep,' she said.

Nearby, Heero was watching the commotion as he planted the charges near the hanger. He then saw Athrun in a jeep and his from cover. Suddenly, gun shots rang out and Heero watched at Rey started firing at Athrun and what appeared to be Meyrin. Amused by these unforseen events, he waited until Athrun had driven Rey off and jumped into a Gouf with Meyrin. Once they had flown away, he ran back to the area he had Wing Zero hidden in and watched at two more mobile suits flew after Athrun's Gouf.

'They must be the brand new Gundam's,' he said to Zero as he used Search Eye to retrieve data. 'They have the Destiny System which is similar to you but it appears to be unstable.'

Zero flashed his eyes at this discovery.

Heero gave a small chuckle before replying. 'Yes Zero, nothing beats an original. We'll wait until they are far away before detonating the explosives. We don't need to be discovered this early.'

Zero flashed his eyes again as he spoke to Heero.

'Yes, we need to time it perfectly to rescue Athrun as well. It appears that fate works to our advantage now.'

The Destiny and Legend were closing in on the Gouf when Durandal appeared on the vid chat.

'Was Meyrin Hawke with Athrun?' asked Durandal which caused Shinn to gasp.

'Yes. Athrun protected her and she willingly got into the cockpit with him.'

'I see. Destroy them at all costs Rey,' ordered Durandal before closing the chat.

'But Rey, it's Meyrin,' pleaded Shinn.

'She's a traitor too, Shinn. They cannot be allowed to live.'

The two new Gundam's started to attack the Gouf while Athrun fended him off.

'Stop it now Athrun,' pleaded Shinn. 'Come back to us.'

'I can't Shinn, the Chairman is corrupt and cannot be trusted.'

'Silence traitor,' said Rey as he charged Athrun.

'It's time,' said Heero as he opened his eyes from a meditated rest.

He punched some keys on the board and all around the base, explosions went up. Shocked people were running around the base as Heero powered up Wing Zero and slowly began to stand up using the smoke as cover. Durandal stood at his window and looked at the chaos.

'Who could have done this?' he asked himself.

He looked in time to see a pair of green eyes flash before they disappeared as Heero active the cloaking device. He gave Durandal the gun sign that he gave Zechs before looking to see Luna standing at her window. He lingered for a moment as he zoomed in on her before taking off and headed to where Athrun was.

He punched the boosters to Mach 10 as he hurried to get there in time. He arrived just as Shinn plunged the Androit sword through the Gouf. He sped along the water surface and caught the damaged mobile suit before punching to Mach 11 and heading towards Orb. The timing was perfect as Shinn and Rey thought that Athrun and Meyrin were now floating towards the bottom of the sea. The turned around and headed back to base. Shinn was now feeling guilty about what had just happened as he thought about what he was going to say to Luna.

**22 down. Hope you enjoyed. Please Read and Review.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23: Feelings**

Rain had begun to fall as Shinn and Rey made their way back towards the hanger in Gibraltar. As they went in to land they noticed the smoke and charred remains of the base where the explosions took place. As they exited their mobile suits they looked at each other and immediately ran to the building where Durandal and the rest of the Minerva were staying. They were thankful that it hadn't been hit. When they entered they noticed a lot of running around as people were giving information to other people. They walked up to the desk where Gladys and Durandal were standing at.

'What happened here?' asked Rey.

Durandal and Gladys looked up from the reports they were studying. Durandal was glad to see them while Gladys was confused by their question.

'We were hit by some terrorist activity after you left after Athrun,' replied Durandal.

This statement took Gladys back as she still didn't know about what had transpired earlier.

'Was it Logos?' asked Shinn.

'No I don't think so. Some other group like the ones that dropped Junius Seven maybe. So you were successful in removing the traitors?'

'Yes. Shinn defeated Athrun's stolen Gouf and he and Meyrin are now at the bottom of the ocean,' responded Rey.

This caused Shinn to look down with some guilt but caused Gladys to become confused.

'What went on here?' she asked.

'It turns out that Athrun was not as loyal as he made out. He and Meyrin betrayed out trust and left in a stolen mobile suit. Rey and Shinn went after them and removed them from play,' replied Durandal as monotone as ever.

Gladys became upset by this revelation and looked from Durandal to her two pilots back and forth until she sat down from dizziness.

'I see,' she finally said. 'That is upsetting to here. Especially about Meyrin. Telling Luna will be difficult.'

'I'll do it,' said Shinn as he looked up from the ground. 'I killed her so I'll do it.'

Durandal nodded at Shinn who turned and walked off towards the residence wing.

'So how much damage was caused?' asked Rey.

'Nearly half of the combined forces fleet was destroyed. Three-quarters of our mobile suits and only the hundred people that were in the docks or armoury. We are thankful that it wasn't more. However, this means we have to delay our attack on Logos until we rebuild our strength,' replied Durandal.

The three continued to discuss the attack as around the base people were putting out fires or pulling people from wreckage. Shinn meanwhile had reached Luna's room. He was hesitant as he knocked as he had no idea of how he was going to tell her what he'd done.

'Come in,' called Luna.

Shinn opened the door and saw Luna looking out the window. But what caught his eye was the jacket she was wearing. He walked up to her and looked out the window with her. You could see a majority of the damage that was caused.

'Did you see what happened?' he asked to break the silence.

'Not really I was almost asleep when I heard the first explosion. I rushed to the window and noticed most of the place in flames. But what I saw next caused me to freeze. I saw a pair of emerald eyes over there through the smoke,' she said while she pointed to the area outside the base where Heero had been.

Shinn looked to where Luna had pointed and back to Luna who was still staring at the spot.

'How come you asked me anyway?' she said while looking from the window to Shinn.

'That's what I came to talk to you about. Please sit down,' he said while guiding her to the chair at the desk.

He was silent for a moment while he looked at Luna, trying to figure out the best way to tell her. He could see sadness in her eyes and could see she was upset about Heero's "death".

'It's about Athrun…and Meyrin. You see they…' he began as he knew she was listening from the mention of her sister's name. 'They betrayed the Chairman and deserted ZAFT.'

Luna was taken aback by this as she looked completely shocked and stunned.

'Athrun stole a Gouf and left with Meyrin. Rey and I went after them and I tried to get them to come back but Athrun was spouting nonsense about Durandal being corrupt. He attacked us and I…I stabbed the Gouf with my sword and…killed them,' he looked up at Luna who looked more in denial then anything. 'She's dead Luna, I'm sorry.'

Luna finally registered what Shinn had said and burst into tears as she fell forward onto him. Shin didn't know what to do as he put his hand on her back to comfort her as she cried her eyes out onto him.

It was just after dawn when Heero arrived at Erica's base in Orb. He slowed Wing Zero down once he was sure he was away from enemy forces. Once he didn't get a response from the Gouf he knew Athrun and Meyrin were hurt. He deactivated the cloaking device and punched in the code to open the hanger. He flew down the tunnel and called for a medical team to meet him there. He gently landed Wing Zero and placed what remained of the Gouf on the ground. The medical team arrived just as Heero exited the cockpit. He helped remove Athrun and Meyrin from the machine and followed them to the Archangel. As they ran through the corridors, Cagalli and Kira were shocked to see Athrun and Meyrin.

'What happened?' asked Cagalli as she ran along beside Heero.

'I went to Gibraltar and as I was placing my explosive's I saw Athrun and Meyrin being hunted by Rey. Athrun drove him off and he got into a Gouf and flew away. Shinn and Rey chased after him in their new Gundam's and I arrived just in time to see Shinn shove his sword through the Gouf. I caught them just before they hit the water. Shinn, Rey and the other's think they are dead.'

Cagalli was speechless at what Heero had told her and they pulled up outside the medical bay as they weren't allowed inside. Heero looked at Kira and could see he was all better.

'Looks like you heal as quick as me,' he stated.

'Perks of being a Coordinator. I heard that they beat you too,' said Kira.

'Yes, but I had Wing Zero Mark II made just in case. But it sounds like we need to find you another mobile suit to fight in. I wonder if your girlfriend has finished making your new one yet,' Heero replied but cursed himself at the look on Kira's face. 'Guess I ruined the surprise. Just don't say it was me.'

'But how do you know?'

'Zero told me. When we saw that Lacus had escaped into space he showed me what she was going to be doing. He also said that you'll need to go up to get it but not until the Terminal calls for you which will be in the next forty-eight hours so be ready. On a happy not I managed to slow down Durandal's campaign against Logos. It'll take him a couple weeks to rebuild his strength. So we can relax for a bit.'

It was at this point when Murrue walked up and heard what Heero had said.

'So you mission was successful then?' she asked.

'Yes. But in regards to the battle against Logos, we will only intervene in that if absolutely necessary. Our main priority will be to help defend Orb after Durandal finishes off Logos.'

'Why will we need to do that?' asked Cagalli.

'Because Durandal will see Orb as the last remaining threat to his plan for what I believe to be World Domination. Not to mention that the Sieran's are members of Logos.'

'I see,' replied Kira. 'That means that I should head straight back to Earth once I go to Lacus.'

'Yes but for now we don't need to concern ourselves with that so there is no need to panic and reveal that we are alive.'

The doctor walked out of the medical bay and walked up to the group.

'He's doing fine, just feeling a little sore. The girl is alright too but has a fever. You can go see them now.'

As they walked in, Cagalli immediately rushed to Athrun's side and held his hand.

'How are you feeling buddy?' asked Kira.

'Like a banged up fool. I should've listened to you Kira. Forgive me.'

'There is nothing to forgive. You were doing what you thought was right. Now you get some rest,' said Kira as he walked out followed by Heero.

Athrun turned his gaze to Cagalli who was almost in tears. He slowly reached up and whipped them away.

'Can you forgive me for doing what I did?' pleaded Cagalli as she clasped the hand that Athrun was holding up

'No I should be asking you for forgiveness for not trusting your intentions. I just hope that we can move on from it for the better.'

Cagalli could on smile at Athrun's words and he gave a weak smile in return as he saw she was still wearing his ring. Murrue was watching from the door and looked over to where Neo was sitting. He was watching the couple in silence and looked at Murrue as he felt her gaze. She quickly looked away and turned her attention to Meyrin.

'So who is this?' she asked.

Cagalli and Athrun looked over at Meyrin who had a wet towel on her head to help fight the fever.

'That's Meyrin Hawke. She was an intelligence officer on the Minerva and was in charge of the mobile suit deployment,' answered a weak Athrun. 'She saved my life.'

'I see,' replied Murrue as she continued to look at the young girl before leaving the medical bay and heading for the bridge.

Later that evening, Heero and Kira were standing silently in the hanger as they watched the mechanics bring Wing Zero onto the Archangel. Both had their thoughts far away from where they actually were. Kira then broke the silence when he asked something he had been thinking about ever since he met Heero.

'Heero, how do you plan on getting back to your home world?'

Heero was brought down to Earth again as he hadn't thought about that for some time. He'd been too busy with this world's problems to think about it.

'I don't know honestly. Zero says the odds are almost impossible. I'd need to recreate the same explosion to achieve the vortex but I also need a solar storm to be present as well. I'd need to fire the buster rifle into Genesis at the same time it fired to achieve that result. But for the last couple of months I hadn't even thought about going back to my world. I've never felt as comfortable somewhere as I do right now. Besides even if I could go back I'm not sure I would anymore. There may be things that would keep me here.'

'Like Luna,' said Kira which caught Heero off guard.

'What do you mean?'

'Athrun told me about her and how you took her to the beach one time and how she was really upset when you left and when Wing Zero blew up.'

The last statement made Heero think about how his "death" would've affected her.

'I'd say she'd be more then upset, especially now with her thinking that Meyrin is dead too.'

'So you do have feelings for her?'

'I'm not really sure. I mean I told her things I've never told anyone else and all she did was ask. And I did feel different when I was around her.'

'That's called love. I feel it every time I'm with Lacus.'

'I've never felt that kind of emotion before. Not even when I was with Relena. I also never lost control of Zero before until I saw Luna injured in her Zaku. Do you remember that day?'

'Yes when you beat me and destroyed the Orb fleet.'

'Seeing her almost dead made me release my anger and lose control of Zero. Nothing has ever made me feel like that either. So you're saying that I'm in love with her.'

'It sounds like the curse to me.'

'Then I have fallen.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'One of the pilots from my world told me once that we may fight for revenge or to protect ourselves but it won't be until we fight for love that we will fall. We then fight for someone other than ourselves.'

'I see,' said Kira. 'Then I must have fallen long ago.'

'I'd say so,' said Heero with a half-smile that Kira returned.

The two continued to talk throughout the night unaware of what was about to happen next.

**Another chapter down. Please READ AND REVIEW**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: Resurrected Wings**

The day after Heero had delivered Athrun and Meyrin to the Archangel, there was a sense of peace throughout the ship as there had been no reports of any major battles since Durandal had ordered the destruction of the Archangel. The minor skirmish would crop up every now and then. Heero accounted this for Durandal's war against Logos as he had a majority of his troops at Gibraltar along with a majority of the Earth Forces that had sided with the Chairman. Durandal in question was starting to get impatient at having to post pone the battle since Heero destroyed most of the fleet, and he had to call all reinforcements from space to rebuild the army. Luna was feeling upset most of the time and would break out into tears every now and then. Shinn was feeling depressed at causing his friend this pain and spent all of his time in the Destiny to keep his mind of off it. He too wished for the battle against Logos to hurry up as he planned on venting his feelings on the Logos army.

Up in space, Lacus and the Terminal had been working around the clock to prepare the new mobile suits for Kira and Athrun. They were hiding near the L-4 colony as they did in the last war. They had received reports that there had been recent activity there and went to investigate. Upon arrival the colony appeared to have been cleaned out as there were no ships in the vicinity and there was more debris than last time. Dacosta was sent in to search the place.

'I hope we find something useful here,' sighed Lacus as she sat at the bridge if the Eternal.

'Don't worry. It was probably only scavengers looting the place. But since it was a medical colony for coordinators I'd say that it was government looters tying up loose ends,' replied Waltfeld.

'Sir, Dacosta is coming in,' said one of the radar officers.

'Good, hopefully he'll have some information for us.'

Outside the Eternal, Dacosta was nearing the ship when a recognisance Ginn caught sight of him. The pilot waited until he was in the ship before heading back to his ship.

'Sir, enemy unit on radar.'

'What?' growled Waltfeld before looking at the visual. 'It followed you here Dacosta.'

'Should we shoot it down?' asked Dacosta.

'It's too late now.'

'We need to head towards Earth to deliver the mobile suits before its ship reaches us,' ordered Lacus.

'Engines to maximum,' barked Waltfeld.

The Eternal shed its rock camouflage and flew towards the blue planet in the distance.

Down on Earth, the crew on the Archangel were relaxing at having nothing to do. They weren't allowed into town as that would give away their position but the island they were on provided the entertainment. Athrun was still too weak to move so he was resigned to the med bay. Cagalli was by his side frequently. Suddenly an alarm went off and Cagalli and the two pilots ran to the bridge.

'What's going on?' asked Kira.

'Are ZAFT forces coming?' asked Cagalli.

'No we received a message from the terminal,' answered Murrue as she opened the message.

'Kira, we're under attack by ZAFT,' said Lacus as the ship shook from an explosion. 'We're going to send a drop pod to your location…'

The screen went fuzzy as the communications cut out. Kira had his fists clenched in anger as what he saw.

'Control it,' said Heero calmly.

'Would someone come and restrain this guy,' came Neo's voice from a screen.

All of the bridge turned to look at the voice that surprised them. In the medical bay Athrun was trying to get out of bed while Meyrin tried to stop him.

'He says "Go Kira",

'Right, Cagalli I'm using the Strike,' said Kira as he and Heero ran off to the hanger.

'You still remember the code for the bridge,' said Murrue before switching off the communication.

In the hanger, Kira and Heero were equipping the Strike with space booster so it could exit the atmosphere. Heero was adjusting them when Kira jumped in the cockpit.

'You'll have to stay in space until the time is right,' said Heero as he appeared at the hatch.

'I understand,' replied Kira.

'Don't worry; I'll protect the Archangel until you get back. Good luck,' said Heero before closing the hatch and moving out of the road.

Up in space, the Eternal was nearing Earth with three ZAFT ships on its tail. They had launched all of their mobile suits and Waltfeld was fending them off in his custom Gaia.

'Blast them,' growled Waltfeld in frustration as he fended off another Gouf. 'Are we in range to drop the pod yet?'

'Not yet, hold them off for a little longer,' replied Lacus.

'Easier said than done.'

'We've almost got them,' said the Commander of the ZAFT ships with a hint of happiness in his voice. 'The Chairman will be most pleased when we tell him we eliminated the Eternal.'

'There's something on radar in the direction of Earth,' said the ZAFT radar officer.

All heads turned towards the blue orb as a red object came shooting out of the Atmosphere and headed straight for the Eternal.

'Mr Waltfeld,' said Kira as he shot down some Goufs before taking a hit to the leg.

'Hurry up and get aboard kid, got get your new machine.'

'Right,' replied Kira as he headed towards the rear hatch.

He made it just before the Strike was entirely incapacitated. He was helped aboard via a couple of tow cables. As he exited the cockpit, he was greeted by the pink haired princess.

'Lacus,' cried Kira as he floated towards her.

'Kira,' she replied as they embraced.

'Being here with you right now…I've never been so happy.'

'Kira…I,'

'Where is it?' asked Kira interrupting her.

'This way,' she answered by taking his hand and leading him towards a door.

They hadn't floated more than three steps when the ship was rocked by an explosion and the two were thrown into the wall. Kira moved so he was between Lacus and the wall.

'Thank you,' said Lacus as she pushed herself off of Kira and continued to lead him into the hanger.

When they arrived Kira stood in awe at the machine in front of him. A brand new, modified Freedom. Lacus couldn't stand to look at the Gundam as she hated war and weapons but she knew it was required to end this war.

'Thank you Lacus, with this machine I can fight properly again…the way I know how,' said Kira as he took Lacus' hands and pulled her close to him.

Outside Waltfeld was struggling to hold off the Gouf's as the three ZAFT ships closed in.

'Prepare to fire the primary cannon,' said the commander.

Inside the Eternal Kira had walked the Strike Freedom into the launch catapult and was updating the OS to suit his fighting style and maximise the suits performance.

'Kira Yamato, Strike Freedom, let's do it,' said Kira as he powered up the Gundam and launched into space.

All the other mobile suits present were in complete awe as the black and white mobile suit with blue wings and gold joints flew towards the battle. Waltfeld could only smirk as he saw Kira heading his way.

'Is that a new mobile suit?' asked one of the pilots.

'Who care, let's get it,' replied another.

A group of Gouf's started firing at the Freedom as it dodged all of the attacks and flew at them, disabling them with the upgraded beam sabres. Two more got behind the Freedom and caught it with the electro whips. They started shocking Kira who activated the DRAGOON system and shot them off of him. Kira then turned towards the remaining suits and activated Full-burst mode and disabled the machines before flying towards the ships.

On board the commander was speechless.

'He defeated twenty Gouf's and he did it in two minutes.'

'Sir the new mobile suit is heading this way.'

'Shoot it down.'

Kira dodged the shots from the ship before activating the DRAGOON's again.

'Hit them,' cried Kira as the eight remote weapons flew at the ships and shot through the engines disabling them.

Kira then returned the pods and headed back to the Eternal which was moving away from the battlefield but maintained its orbit of Earth. Kira landed the Freedom back in the hanger and was greeted by Andy.

'Nice job youngster. Your new job is impressive. I'm thankful that you arrived when you did.'

'It was nothing. There was no chance in hell that I was going to let you guys be killed.'

'I know Kira. So what do we do now?' asked Andy as he walked with Kira towards the bridge.

'Heero said that we should stay up here until after Durandal has his war with Logos and then decides to attack Orb. That's when I'll go back to Earth to help defend it,' replied Kira which made Andy a little confused.

'Why would he attack Orb?' he asked when they entered the bridge.

'Heero said it has something to do with Durandal's motives for eliminating Logos,' replied Kira as he walked up to Lacus. 'Something about the Chairman being as manipulative as the other leaders and being able to use that to take over the world once the war is over. But he's not sure what.'

'Maybe this will give us some idea,' said Lacus as she handed Kira the book that Dacosta had brought back.

Kira flicked through the book before a confused looked appeared on his face.

'I can't make heads or tails of this,' he said. 'It looks like gene and DNA data but I can't read it. The only English is the Destiny Plan at the start of the book. We'll have to show it to one of the Coordinators in Orb when we get back. But for now we wait here until Orb gets attacked.'

Kira then sent a message to the Archangel explaining the situation with Heero informing the rest of the crew about Zero's prediction but told them to wait until after the fight against Logos to worry about it.

**And another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust. Please Read and Review. Sorry about the lateness of the updates. I've been working and applying for tech college and the Playoffs have been distracting.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Heaven's Base**

It was a few weeks before Durandal had enough mobile suits to attack Heaven's Base. All the Earth Alliance and ZAFT forces that sided with the Chairman had gathered at Gibraltar. He planned on taking the base in one massive assault and thereby ending the war with Logos. Lord Djibril had taken refuge there and had called all support from the Atlantic Federation. He had planned for Durandal to amass a giant force, but the one at Heaven's Base was not small itself.

There was snow on the ground as Durandal's fleet made its way to Heaven's Base. All over the world, people were watching this historic event of the Second War. After the Earth Alliance's use of the Destroy Gundam in Berlin, a lot more naturals had pledged their support for the Chairman.

In their secret base at Orb, the crew of the Archangel waited anxiously for this battle to unfold. Either way the battle went they knew they would end up fighting one or the other in the end. With Kira in space and Athrun incapacitated, Heero was the only pilot available to defend Orb and the Archangel.

Durandal sat aboard the Minerva as the flagship of the fleet. Everyone was feeling more anxious by the minute as a Mexican Standoff took place and everyone waited to see who would move first.

'Prepare the mobile suits,' said Durandal calmly.

'All ships go to condition red,' said Gladys over the fleet channel. 'All pilots board their machines.'

Down in the hanger, Shinn and Rey had their game faces on as they hopped in their new Gundams. Luna was feeling nervous at having to pilot the Impulse since she had never flown before.

'Are you alright Luna?' asked Shinn as he appeared on her screen.

'Yes, just nervous,' replied Luna as she was still upset over Shinn "killing" Meyrin, as well as the loss of Athrun and Heero.

'Don't worry, I'll protect you, this ship, I'll protect everybody. It's Logos' fault for all of this. Meyrin and Athrun and Stellar. I'll make them pay' said Shinn as he powered up the Destiny and walked it into the catapult.

'It's time,' said Djibril as he was starting to get impatient. 'Launch the first wave.'

'Yes Sir,' replied the leader of the Atlantic Federation. 'First wave launch.'

Hanger doors opened up all over the place as Windam's took flight and headed for Durandal's fleet.

'Launch the mobile suits,' ordered Durandal. 'Send down the decent pods.'

All over the fleet, Windam's, GOUF's, DINN's and ZAKU's were launching. The submarines below launched their Ash's. They all headed for the island.

'Shinn Asuka, Destiny, Launching,' said Shinn as he flew out of the Minerva and activated the phase shift.

'Rey Za Burrel, in Legend, taking off,' said Rey as he did the same.

'Lunamaria Hawke, Core Splendour, I'm taking off,' said Luna as she sortied in the Impulse for the first time. All the silhouettes connected and formed the Force Impulse.

'Stay close to the fleet Lunamaria,' ordered Rey as he and Shinn led the squadron of mobile suits.

Luna pulled the Impulse up and stayed with the reserve mobile suits just in front of the fleet.

High above in the atmosphere, the ZAFT and Earth Alliance decent pods, fell from the ships, right above the main headquarters of Heaven's Base.

'Enemy mobile suits above,' said a radar monitor to Djibril.

'Luckily I planned for this,' said Djibril as he pushed a button.

In one of the mountains, a door opened up and inside was a pole that resembles and obelisk. It started to glow red and fired a gamma ray beam, similar to Genesis at the decent forces.

'What's that?' asked Shinn as he and the other mobile suits pulled up.

The beam flew through the air and destroyed the hundred odd mobile suits that were falling. Djibril grinned as he watched the mobile suits blow up.

On board the Archangel, the crew all gasped in horror at the sight of the gamma ray beam. Heero gritted his teeth in anger at the thought of Luna being caught up in that.

'I'm going,' said Heero as he left the bridge and headed for the hanger.

The crew hardly took notice as Heero left. They were took shocked at what was happening at Heaven's Base as the beam died down and bits of mobile suits fell to the ground.

Heero jumped in Wing Zero and focused his energy on getting there in time. He had to fly half way around the world to get there. He powered up Wing Zero and the green eyes flashed as Zero was activated.

'Let's go Zero,' said Heero as he powered the thruster's and launched from the hanger. He didn't even get in his flight suit.

He quickly transformed into Neo-bird mode and pushed the engines as far as they would go. Heero looked at the speedo and saw it in the red.

'Mach 15,' he said to himself. 'Arrive at destination in twenty minutes.'

Wing Zero flew through the air faster than anything in history. The upgraded boosters were the most powerful ever built. To anyone of the ground it would have looked like a quick flash of light. Heero felt himself being pushed back from the G's.

'_Just hold on. I'm coming_,' thought Heero as he focused.

Back at the battle, every Durandal supporter was in complete shock. Half of their fighting strength had been whipped out in one blow. Even the Djibril supporters were shocked at the power of the weapon.

'Send out the Destroy's,' ordered Djibril.

All over Heaven's Base, five doors opened and the giant mobile weapons emerged. They started to make their way towards the fleet.

'Take them out now,' ordered Durandal after he re-gathered himself.

The Durandal forces started to charge at the enemy with renewed vigour. Shinn and Rey saw one of the Destroys and decided to get rid of it first. As soon as Shinn got near, the memory of Stellar in the machine resurfaced and Shinn's anger rose.

'It's all your fault,' he cried as he activated his Seed factor and charged at the mobile armour with the Androit sword.

Rey didn't know what to do as he watched Shinn try and get passed the defence. He fired his DRAGOON lasers to try and create a diversion but it didn't work.

'Try and get above it Shinn,' suggested Rey.

'What do you think I'm doing,' spat Shinn in frustration.

All over, both forces had engaged and the mass production suits were evenly matched. Luna was slicing down Windam's all over. Her radar went off and she reacted just in time as one of the Destroy's fired at her.

'This is awesome,' laughed Sting as he fired the weapons all over the place.

'No you don't,' said Luna as she fired at the Destroy only to have it blocked.

'That won't work,' laughed Sting as he launched the hands and knocked the Impulse backwards into a cliff.

'Argh,' cried Luna as the Impulse lost balance from the impact of the cliff.

'Time to die,' cackled Sting as he powered up the primary weapon and prepared to shoot the Impulse.

Luna was paralysed with fear as she watched the red glow increase in the Destroy's head, and accepted her fate as Rey and Shinn were too far away to help.

Heero was within a kilometre of the battle and as he flew nearer, the camera zoomed in on the Impulse as Zero took in all the data for analysis.

'Luna,' cried Heero as he instinctively flew at the Impulse.

'Unknown object coming in fast from starboard,' said the Minerva's radar monitor.

'Is it a mobile suit?' asked Gladys.

'It's way too fast for a mobile suit,' replied the monitor.

'Unless it's…' began Durandal as Heero flew past and created a steam wave that covered the fleet.

Everyone on the Minerva sat stunned as they tried to get a visual but Wing Zero was too fast.

Luna closed her eyes as she saw the beam start to leave the Destroy. Heero quickly transformed back into mobile suit mode and took the shot on the buster shield as he activated the beam deflection system (similar to the Akatsuki) and forced the beam back into the Destroy. Heero dashed backwards as the weapon sparked and exploded, making it useless and causing the Destroy to fall over.

He hovered Wing Zero in front of the Impulse as Luna and everyone else in the vicinity sat stunned at the sight of Wing Zero, looking better than new.

'It can't be,' stammered Gladys.

'Wing Zero?' gasped Arthur.

'I thought so,' said Durandal to himself.

'But it looks bigger,' stated Gladys.

(Wing Zero Mark II was in fact 18m tall and weighed 9 tonne to support the massive boosters).

'Heero?' asked Luna in shock.

'Yes,' replied Heero as he opened a video feed.

Luna felt tears form in her eyes at the sight of the man she loved and thought was dead was right in front of her.

'You're alive.'

'Yes.'

Luna couldn't speak as tears of joy ran freely down her face.

'What's wrong?' asked Heero.

'I'm just so glad you're alive. And I'm glad now that the pain in my heart can go away,' replied Luna.

The crew of the Minerva only stared as Wing Zero hovered in front of the Impulse.

'Why is he alive?' asked Gladys.

'I'd say that he planned it,' replied Durandal.

'But why did he turn up here?'

'Take a look at what he's doing.'

Gladys took a better look at the visual and noticed that Wing Zero was in a protective stance in front of the Impulse.

'He's protecting the Impulse? Why not just destroy Heaven's Base and leave?'

'It's not the Impulse itself.'

'You're not saying…Lunamaria?'

'The knight is protecting his queen.'

Gladys turned her attention back to the battle.

'What should we do?'

'Let's just watch for now.'

Even Djibril was shocked to see Wing Zero.

'I thought that mobile suit was destroyed,' he stammered.

'Apparently not,' replied the Atlantic Federation leader.

'Well destroy it now. Send the other three Destroy's there.'

'Yes Sir.'

Sting meanwhile had re-gained control of the Destroy and was getting to his feet.

'You'll pay,' he said as he fired the three chest cannons at the Impulse and Wing Zero.

'Look out,' said Heero as he pushed the Impulse out of the road as the shots missed and hit the cliff.

Heero flew up as he activated a cable from Wing Zero's wrist and connected it to the buster rifle. (Like the Epyon, a tribute to Zechs). He quickly charged up the rifle with the Gundam's battery and aimed at the Destroy.

'My turn,' said Heero as he fired.

Sting quickly tried to activate the shields but it didn't matter. The Destroy was engulfed in flames as it exploded. The crew of the Minerva and Luna, starred in awe at how easily Heero dispatched the Destroy.

'It's even more powerful than before,' noted Gladys.

'I think we should take it out now. Get Shinn and Rey over here,' ordered Durandal.

Shinn and Rey were still having trouble fighting the Destroy. The received the message and looked over to where Wing Zero was. Shinn was stunned.

'It can't be,' he said as he dodged a shot.

'Let's hurry up Shinn, we can't allow him to get the Minerva,' said Rey.

'Right,' said Shinn as he tried a new angle of attack.

Heero brought Wing Zero so it was hovering at the same level as the Impulse. He re-opened the video feed.

'Are you alright?' asked Heero as he saw that Luna was still crying, but not as much.

'Yes, but why didn't you come back sooner,' cried Luna.

Heero could tell that she was hurt by what had happened.

'I wanted to but I couldn't move too soon.'

'So why did you come back?'

'To defeat Logos, and…' started Heero as he looked Luna direct in the eyes as he could. 'See you.'

'You came all this way for me?' said Luna as she looked a bit more cheery.

'Yes,' said Heero as he felt something rise in him as he looked into Luna's eyes.

'Why?'

'Because I…' began Heero as the memory of going to the beach with her and the battle where he lost control came back, allowed him to say what he wanted. 'I L….'

Heero didn't get time to finish as the radar alarm went off showing three more mobile suits in range. Both mobile suits turned to see three more Destroy units heading their way. Heero quickly moved in front of the Impulse.

'Do you trust me?' asked Heero quickly as he knew that he wasn't going to get to say what he wanted here.

'Yes.'

'Deactivate the IFF and then head to this location,' said Heero as he transferred a map onto Luna's screen.

'But what about you, you can't defeat all three,' said Luna in concern.

'Don't worry. I'll finish up here and I'll meet you there,' replied Heero as he drew one of his new beam sabres and connected the same cable to the hilt. He quickly powered it to the max and prepared to take on the three Destroy's. Luna could only stare as she watched the blade grow in size. 'Go now.'

Luna shook herself out of the trance and took off to where Heero had told her to go. Once Luna was a safe distance away, Heero charged at the three Destroy's. They all started firing at Wing Zero, but Heero was able to successfully dodge the shots as he closed in. All three suits powered up their shield as they prepared for the attack.

'Take this,' said Heero as he flew at the middle one and plunged the blade straight through the shield and cockpit.

The other two pilots didn't know what to do as they watched Heero dispatch one so easily. Heero then flew through with the attack and sliced the other two as well. He then aimed the buster rifle and fired at the disabled machines. The shot destroyed them as they were engulfed in flames. Heero then headed to where the main battle was taking place.

The crew of the Minerva were stunned as they watched Heero destroy three Destroy's then slice through the Windam's as he flew by while firing the beam gattling. Gladys suddenly regained self-control as she saw Wing Zero head their way.

'Have we got a fix on the Impulse?' asked Durandal hastily as he watched Wing Zero close.

'She's heading South-East,' replied the radar monitor.

'Hopefully the tracker's won't cut out,' said Durandal.

Gladys sat confused and was about to say something when Wing Zero pulled up in front of the fleet.

'What's he doing?'

Heero pushed a button and the right hand of Wing Zero began to spark from a pad.

'Let's see if the manipulator works,' said Heero as he plunged the hand into the water and sent an electrical surge through the water.

The surge flew through and hit the entire fleet. All of the operating systems and electrical components began to fry.

'He's overloaded the current,' said Gladys as she shielded her face from a spark.

Every ship in the fleet was disabled as was the tracking system.

'Check if any ships were unaffected,' ordered Durandal.

The Minerva used laser signals to communicate with the other ships. All reported back that their systems were down.

Happy with the result, Heero flew back towards Heaven's Base. He dispatched the majority of the Windam's as Durandal's forces took care of the rest. He noticed Shinn and Rey still dealing with the Destroy and headed their way.

'Hurry up Shinn,' said Rey as he dodged an attack.

'I'm trying,' he replied in frustration.

Both of their radar's went off as they looked to see Wing Zero flying towards them

'I'll handle this,' said Heero as he fired the buster rifle at the Destroy and used the smoke from the shot as a screen to fly in and slice the suit in half.

Shinn and Rey used this opportunity to open up and shoot the Destroy to pieces as Heero watched his two former comrades destroy it. Once it was smouldering, Shinn and Rey turned to face Heero.

'Now it's your turn,' said Shinn as he drew the sword.

'Maybe some other time,' replied Heero as he took off.

'Fight me you coward,' said Shinn as he chased after him.

'Return to your ship, Heaven's Base will fall shortly,' said Heero as he transformed into Neo-bird and flew off quicker than Rey or Shinn could go.

Shinn pulled up and followed Rey back to the Minerva.

Djibril watched in fear as his forces started to disappear at an alarming rate. He quickly realised that Heaven's Base was lost and signalled to the top brass to follow him to their escape. Once they were safely in their escape shuttle, they sent a message to the rest of the base to surrender. The ZAFT pilots sent the message to the fleet by laser signals as the ships were still out of commission.

'Tell them to go and capture Djibril,' ordered Durandal.

The ZAFT pilots quickly stormed the base and arrested every officer in sight. They lined them up and ticked off Logos members, but when they didn't find Djibril, Durandal was most unhappy.

'Damn it,' growled Durandal. 'Signal all mobile suits to return.'

The Minerva's power came back on and they sent out signal flares. The mobile suits slowly returned to their ships.

'Have got a fix on the Impulse yet?'

'Not yet Sir, it may take a few hours to reset everything,' replied the monitor.

'Very well, we'll head back to Gibraltar to regroup,' said Durandal.

One by one the fleet turned around and headed back to ZAFT headquarters. Durandal continually pondered over Wing Zero's return and where Djibril was hiding now.

**And that's another chapter down. Please read and review.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: The Fight Comes To Orb**

Heero brought Wing Zero in over the island he had indicated to Luna and looked for the Impulse. Once he located her he brought the machine lower and landed opposite the Impulse. Luna opened her cockpit and ran out onto the hatch.

'Don't move,' came Heero's voice from the slightly higher cockpit as Wing Zero was taller than the Impulse.

'Why not?' asked Luna sounding a little offended after Heero had asked her to dissert ZAFT.

'Because I'm scanning for tracking devices. I figured that Durandal had extra one's installed in case the IFF was disabled,' said Heero as he activated Zero's scan.

The eyes flashed as the camera moved up and down the mobile suit and over Luna.

'Done,' said Heero as he hopped down from his and landed on the Impulse's hatch.

Luna immediately threw her arms around Heero which caught him off guard for a minute before he returned the embrace.

'I still can't believe that you're alive and I'm hugging you,' said Luna as she continued to hold onto Heero as if she was worried that if she let him go he'd go away.

'I know, I'm sorry. I know that it must have been hard for you. I didn't want you to go through that but I didn't have a choice. Zero hadn't predicted your influence over me when he made the plan.'

Luna pulled away and looked up at Heero. 'What do you mean?'

'I thought that'd be pretty clear by now,' replied Heero as he leant forward and pressed his lips to hers.

After being caught off guard, Luna closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment before Heero pulled away. As he opened his eyes he could see Luna was blushing.

'Wow,' was all she could manage to say.

There was an awkward silence at the two just looked at each other before Heero spoke. 'I should remove the trackers.'

He then walked into the Impulse's cockpit while Luna continued to look at him in silence but with a smile of joy on her face. '_He likes me_,' she thought to herself while remembering the kiss.

'So you didn't give them all to Gladys,' said Heero as he held up a photo of him as he was looking at where Luna was hiding that day at Crete.

'You knew I was there?'

'I had a feeling, but Zero picked you up,'

'I see. So can you explain some things from that day? I've had some questions that I couldn't get my head around.'

'You mean about the two Lacus'?'

'Yes.'

'The Lacus you've seen with Athrun and the Chairman is an imposter who used to go by the name of Meer Campbell. The real Lacus is not Athrun's fiancée and does not support Durandal. She lives in Orb with Athrun, Cagalli and Kira who is Lacus' real boyfriend and pilot of the Freedom and Cagalli's twin brother. It was him along with Athrun that joined up with Lacus in space and fought at Jachin Due.'

'So why does the Chairman have a fake Lacus?' asked Luna as she knew that Heero was telling the truth.

'Because she had great influence over the people and Durandal can use that to his advantage.'

Luna went silent as she thought about what Heero had said and suddenly realized that there were some differences between the two. Their singing style and dress for one.

'Got it,' said Heero as he brought Luna from his thoughts and walked out onto the hatch. He put the tracker on the ground and crushed it with his foot. He then looked at Luna. 'And the other one is in your suit.'

'Oh,' replied Luna as Heero walked up to Wing Zero and grabbed a spare suit from the cockpit.

'You can use this,' said Heero as he landed back on the Impulse and saw that Luna had already removed the top half of her suit.

'Sorry,' he said as he turned back around and held out the suit to Luna.

'Are you blushing?' she asked cheekily as she grabbed the suit from Heero, who had no reply to her question, and put it on in the cockpit.

She walked back out and placed her hand on Heero's shoulder, who turned around to face her. The blushing was gone but Luna decided to place it back by leaning forward and placed a kiss of her own on his lips. The two enjoyed their second blissful moment. Heero pulled away again and took Luna's old suit and lit it on fire and threw it to the ground.

'What now?' she asked as Heero looked up from the smouldering suit.

'We head to Orb and wait with the Archangel until Durandal comes for Orb looking for Djibril,' replied Heero.

'So the Archangel is still alive?'

'Yes and so is the Freedom's pilot along with Athrun and Meyrin.'

'Meyrin's alive?'

'Yes, I caught them before they hit the water and brought them to Orb.'

'So that was you,' she stated at realising she knew who blew up the fleet.

'Yes it was.'

'Why didn't you come and see me.'

'Because I couldn't risk anyone seeing me.'

'I understand but I've got you back now so it doesn't matter,' said Luna as she smiled at Heero who returned a half one.

'Let's go before someone come's looking around here,' said Heero as he hopped up onto Wing Zero and disappeared into the cockpit.

Luna followed suit and jumped back into the Impulse. She powered it up and noticed that the power was low.

'Heero,' she said as she opened up a chat.

'What is it?'

'My power's low. I might not have enough to get back to Orb.'

'Don't worry. I'll transform into Neo-bird and you just hold onto my hands.'

'Right,' replied Luna as Hero flew Wing Zero in loop before hovering above the Impulse in jet mode.

Luna moved the Impulse and grabbed onto Wing Zero's hands. Once the magnetic connection was made, Heero rose into the air.

'Hold on,' he said.

'I'm used to you and going fast,' she said with a nervous chuckle.

Heero pushed the throttle forward as he started to fly forward. Slowly he built the speed up so that Luna wouldn't get thrown around from a sudden burst of speed. Once he hit Mach 8 he removed his hand from the throttle and hit the accelerator to open the boosters up and enjoyed the rush as he broke the sound barrier. Luna couldn't help but scream at the feeling of such speed.

'We should get to Orb in an hour or so.'

'That's fine. I'm enjoying the ride,' she said.

Durandal's fleet arrived back at the Gibraltar and there was a feeling of disappointment amongst the soldiers. They had failed to capture Djibril and the Chairman was not happy. There was an unnecessary loss of life over nothing and the loss of Luna and the Impulse just added to the feeling. But there was also joy as they had removed Heaven's Base and a large number of Earth Forces troops from their army. Durandal held a medal ceremony to help boost morale.

'To Shinn Asuka and Rey Za Burrel, I present the order of the Nebula,' said the leader of ceremony as he handed the two pilots their medals as the crowd applauded.

'I also have something for Shinn and Rey,' said Durandal as he walked forward with two cases. 'I award these two pilots Faith badges as they have shown outstanding loyalty to ZAFT. I feel that they deserve this honour.'

'Thank you very much Sir. I'll do my best to uphold this responsibility,' said Rey as he accepted his badge and saluted.

'Me too,' said Shinn like a little kid before realising where he was. 'I mean, I'll do my best too Sir.'

The ceremony ended and Rey and Shinn were surrounded by the young crewman.

'Wow I can't believe the two of you. That's like three of those medals now and Faith.'

'Yeah, you two are awesome.'

Shinn couldn't help but give a big smile while Rey lifted his blank face to smile as well. There joy was broken when an announcement was made to Durandal.

'We've located Djibril. He's in Orb.'

The whole room stood stock still at this revelation. Durandal however wasn't surprised.

'Captain Gladys. I'd like to intrust you with leading this mission to Orb and eliminate Djibril and that nation, once we've rested that is.'

'Yes Sir,' responded Gladys as she walked back towards the harbour with her crew in toe.

The crew felt upset that the nation that was neutral was now housing a leader of war. Shinn just added this to the list of reasons of why he hated that nation and was going to use the full power of the Destiny to destroy it. His eye's burned with rage as he powered up the Destiny and started working on improving its performance.

It was nearing dusk when Heero and Luna arrived at the small island outside Orb. Heero punched in some numbers and the doors to the Archangel's hanger opened up. Heero placed the Impulse onto the deck before flying back outside to turn into mobile suit mode before landing beside the Impulse and led it into the ships hanger. Once they had walked into a spare suit slot they disembarked from their machines and were met by the crew.

'Meyrin,' cried Luna as the two sisters ran to each other and embraced with tears in their eyes. 'Thank God you're alive.'

The others could only watch at the sibling's reunion.

'So it's over then?' asked Athrun who had managed to regain his strength.

'Yes but Djibril escaped before the base surrendered. I have a feeling he may be hiding here.'

'So Durandal will be sending his fleet here?' asked Cagalli in concern.

'Yes but we'll be ready. We'll hold them off until Kira returns with his and Athrun new machines and we'll take back control of Orb at the same time. But don't panic until they arrive.'

'My new machine?' asked Athrun.

'Only if you want it.'

'If it means defending Orb then I'll do it.'

'Good because we'll need your help.'

'So it looks like you went to that battle for more than one reason then?' asked Athrun as he pointed to Luna who was not letting go of Meyrin.

Heero merely looked at Athrun with a half grin to answer his question which made Athrun and Cagalli give a slight giggle.

'So you are human then,' said Athrun smartly.

'Shut up,' said Heero as Luna and Meyrin finally let got and walked up to the trio.

Luna latched her hand onto Heero's which caused Meyrin to giggle.

'What?' asked Luna.

'Nothing, just it's about time,' she said while giggling again which caused Luna to blush.

'So who is this?' asked Murrue as she entered the hanger with Erica and noticed Luna standing with the others.

'Lunamaria Hawke,' said Luna while extending her hand to Murrue.

'Nice to meet you. I'm Murrue Ramius, Captain of the Archangel,' replied Murrue while shaking her hand.

'Pleasure,' replied Luna.

'So looks like Heero has decided to bring more friends aboard,' said Murrue while giving Heero a searching look.

'This is a special case,' replied Heero.

'Yeah, _his_ special case,' said Athrun cheekily which caused Luna to blush.

'I see,' said Murrue who was looking at the couple along with the others.

'So is that the Impulse?' asked Erica to change the subject.

'Yes, it's my machine,' replied Luna.

'It needs its battery recharged,' input Heero. 'Along with repairs.'

'What about Wing Zero?' asked Erica.

'It's fine. Didn't get a scratch on it.'

'So what is the plan now?' asked Murrue as she was absent when Heero told Athrun and Cagalli about the battle.

'Djibril managed to escape Heaven's Base and is most likely hiding here in Orb. Durandal probably already knows this and will send his fleet here with in the next twenty-four hours. When that happens we will need to retake Orb from the Seiran's control and defend Orb until Kira arrives with the two new machines. That way it will be easier to drive ZAFT off.'

'What about Djibril?' asked Cagalli.

'Since he's one of the reasons that Durandal is coming to Orb I say we hand him over if we find him. Other than that he's not really useful for anything and should be killed as soon as.'

The group felt a little chill as they remembered how cold Heero could be.

'But we shouldn't concern ourselves with that now, not until the fleet is within attack range. For now we should rest and relax,' said Heero as he wandered towards the hanger exit.

The others agreed with Heero and followed as the mechanics started work on the Impulse. Heero walked to his quarters with Luna still attached to his hand.

'So where do I sleep?' she asked as they walked along the corridor.

'I'm sure there's a spare room aboard this ship,' replied Heero.

'How about I stay in your room?' she asked seductively.

'If that's what you want,' he said as if her voice had not effect on him as he unlocked the door.

'And I don't have any clothes,' as she realised she was still wearing the suit.

Heero then looked at her before giving a slight chuckle and walked to the closet.

'Here,' he said as he handed her an Orb crewman uniform.

'Thanks,' she replied as Heero walked towards the door. 'Where are you going?'

'I'm giving you some privacy.'

'You know my underclothes are no different to that bikini you saw me in,' she said while unzipping the suit at the same time Heero turned to look.

He immediately turned back to the door and pushed the button to open it up and walked out. After a minute, Luna walked out and looked at Heero who was waiting by the door.

'You really are a gentleman,' she said while reaching for his hand again while walking to stand face to face. 'But I'm right you know. You don't have to be bashful when I'm changing.'

And for the second time Heero was speechless. All of his training hadn't prepared him for having a girlfriend.

'Looks like I'm the one thing you don't have an answer to,' she said jokingly before kissing him. 'Don't worry. Most men don't understand women.'

Heero just continued to look Luna with his usual expressionless face before speaking.

'Are you hungry?'

'Starving,' she replied.

'Then let's eat,' he said as he led her towards the dining room while giving a tour of the ship.

Most of the crew was in their when the couple arrived so they grabbed a tray and sat down with Athrun, Cagalli and Meyrin. After they ate, Heero gave Luna the rest of the tour of the Archangel with the other three until it was getting late.

'I'm beat,' said Meyrin as she yawned while the group walked back towards the quarters. 'Come on sis, I'll show you were you're sleeping.'

'Actually I'm already sleeping somewhere,' she said while going a little red.

'Ohhhhh,' said Meyrin while Athrun and Cagalli just smiled at each other before Athrun gave Heero a wink which earned him a death glance.

'Well, goodnight then,' said Meyrin as she walked to her door while the others headed to the pilot section.

'I'll bring you something to sleep in. You look my size,' said Cagalli as she and Athrun reached their room.

'Thanks,' replied Luna as she and Heero walked to their room a couple more down.

Once inside, Heero walked to the ensuite and had a quick shower while Cagalli brought Luna a black night gown.

'After the Orb battle we'll have to go shopping to get you some clothes. We'll put it on my account,' said Cagalli.

'A shopping trip sounds good,' replied Luna as Cagalli bid them good night.

'Bathroom's yours,' said Heero as he exited the ensuite and walked to the bed and placed his gun on the bedside table.

'Thanks.'

Heero lay down and closed his eyes as he heard the shower turn on. Fifteen minutes later Luna emerged with wet hair and was dressed in the black night gown that came half way down her thighs. Heero caught himself staring as she walked towards the bed. Luna felt a sense of satisfaction as she felt Heero's eyes followed her all the way to the bed.

'Goodnight,' she said as she lay down next to Heero and kissed him before snuggling up resting her head on his shoulder and arm across his chest.

As whenever Luna was near him, Heero felt better then he'd ever felt before and her touch as always felt natural. He slowly drifted off to a light sleep as he felt some form of peace.

The next morning, the crew were eating breakfast when Miriallia arrived in the room.

'I got your message,' she said as she approached Murrue.

'Yes I'm sorry for dragging you away from your parents.'

'It's fine. I got to see them so that's all that matters,' she replied before noticing two new faces. 'Who are they?'

'Meyrin and Lunamaria Hawke,' answered Murrue. 'Heero brought Meyrin on board when he rescued Athrun and Luna arrived last night. She's Heero's girlfriend apparently.'

'I see. And Kira's in space?'

'Yes, until Durandal's fleet attacks Orb.'

'So that's why you called me back. When will they arrive?'

'Around noon,'

'Does Orb know?'

'Most likely since they're holding the person the Chairman wants. So we'll be in battle once they get here.'

'Understood, I'll return to my post after breakfast,' she said before walking up to the table Heero and the others sat at.

'Miriallia,' said Cagalli as she stood up and hugged her friend.

'Hi guys,' she said after Cagalli released her.

'So I guess you've heard then,' said Athrun.

'Yes and it's good to have you back on our side,' she replied. 'I also see the Mr. No greeting has joined us too.'

'What does she mean by that?' asked Luna.

'The first time we met I didn't exchange pleasantries with her,' answered Heero. 'I'm sorry for that. My name is Heero Yuy, it's a pleasure.'

'Miriallia Haw, nice to meet you,' she replied to Heero as if it was an old joke. 'And nice to meet you two as well, Luna and Meyrin.'

'Hi,' replied the sister's cheerfully.

'So you two were aboard the Minerva with Heero and Athrun?'

'We were. It's nothing compared to this ship,' said Luna.

The group got into a conversation that continued seemed to go for a while before they were interrupted by the loud speaker.

'The ZAFT fleet is nearing Orb. They are sending out an announcement.'

'All hands to level one battle stations,' ordered Murrue.

The crew in the dining room started to scurry about as they headed for their stations.

'Let's go,' said Heero as he headed for the hanger with Luna as Mir, Athrun, Cagalli and Meyrin headed for the bridge.

Murrue went directly to the medical bay.

'What's going on?' asked Neo.

'We're going into battle against ZAFT. We've decided to let you go. There's a fighter waiting in the hanger for you to leave in. I'm sorry that I've put you through this,' replied Murrue.

Neo just looked at her as if he knew who she was. Just looking at him was too much for Murrue as she left the Medical bay before tears appeared.

As Heero and Luna reached the hanger the announcement could be heard.

'We demand that you hand over Lord Djibril to us to prevent any hostilities,' came Gladys' voice.

'We're sorry to inform you that the so called leader of Logos is not residing in Orb. So I ask you to please leave our country at once,' replied Yuna.

'They won't fall for it,' said Heero as he and Luna entered the pilot change room.

Heero noticed a bag lying on a chair.

'What's this?' he asked as he picked it up. 'For Lunamaria Hawke.'

'What?' she asked as she opened it. 'It's a pilot suit.'

It was black and white like the Orb ones but the main colour was the same as her hair.

'Wow,' she said as she quickly changed into it as Heero turned around.

On board the Minerva Shinn and Rey were waiting to launch.

'I'll be launching alone,' said Shinn. 'If anyone destroys Orb it'll be me.'

'I understand,' replied Rey as Gladys issued the order for all mobile suits to launch.

At the Orb Defence Headquarters, Yuna ordered all the Murasame's and Astray's to launch and defeat the ZAFT forces.

'The battle had begun,' said Mir as she opened a visual of the battle.

'That's Shinn,' said Athrun as he saw the Destiny cut through some Murasame's.

'We should be launching,' said Cagalli in angst.

'Before you do, would you let Cagalli come with me, I have something to show her,' said Erica.

Cagalli followed the engineer to another part of the secret base. They arrived at a large pair of doors.

'Read this plaque,' said Erica.

'The day when this door need be opened, never arrives,' read Cagalli.

Erica opened the doors and there stood a golden mobile suit.

'It was Lord Azumi's wish that this would be used when Orb was in need of protection,' said Erica. 'That day has come.'

'Father,' said Cagalli in tears as she walked towards the mobile suit. 'It's time to launch.'

Erica sent a message to Murrue to launch at once.

'Understood, Archangel heading out. Launch all mobile suits.'

'We won't be launching just yet,' said Heero as he activated a message link. 'We need to let Cagalli retake Orb by herself. The Murasame's can back her up for now.'

'I understand,' replied Murrue.

Cagalli sat in the new Gundam and activated the OS. Once she had programmed everything the way Athrun had taught her she opened up the hanger.

'Cagalli Yula Atha, Akatsuki, launching,' she called as she powered the thruster's and flew out of the hanger.

Once in the air, the Murasame's from the Archangel formed up behind her as they headed for the battle. As they got in range they could see that it was all one sided. Cagalli then sent a message to the Orb Defence Headquarters as the Murasame's sliced down some Gouf's to clear a path.

'Orb Defence Headquarters, this is Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Atha. Who is in charge there?'

Yuna picked up the phone to talk to her.

'That would be me my Cagalli.'

'Is that Yuna Roma Seiran?'

'Yes it is sugar bear. I'd knew you'd come rescue me.'

'Then do you recognise me as the leader of this nation?'

'That I do. This is my Cagalli, I'm so sure of it.'

'Then I issue this command. Arrest Yuna Roma Seiran.'

'What?' questioned Yuna as an officer that didn't like him punched him in the face.

Military Police piled on Yuna and restrained him.

'It has been done Lady Cagalli,' said the officer.

'Good, start questioning him for Lord Djibril's location. Also rally the remaining forces to these locations,' replied Cagalli.

Back on the Archangel, Heero was watching the events on his left screen as he waited in the launch catapult.

'She's doing better than we thought Zero. But the real test is almost there.'

Amongst the battlefield, Shinn was destroying all of the Murasame's in his path, single handed as he moved towards Onogoro Island. As he neared his radar picked up an unknown.

'A new model,' he said to himself as he got a visual. 'It must be the leader.'

With that he charged directly towards Cagalli in the Akatsuki. Cagalli's radar went off as Shinn closed in.

'You,' she said as she knew who it was.

He gunned the golden machine and charged head on with the Destiny. Shinn fired the cannon which rebounded off of the Akatsuki which Shinn had to dodge.

'Deflected the beam, but how?'

'Argh,' screamed Cagalli as she pulled out the beam saber and clashed swords with Shinn.

The two entered a melee as they exchanged blow after blow.

'You're good,' said Shinn as he bounced off another attack. 'But not good enough.'

Shinn pulled away and activated the Wings of Light system and started hitting the Akatsuki all over. Cagalli didn't know where the attack would be coming from. Back on the Archangel, Heero knew that she wouldn't last too much longer.

'We're launching Luna,' said Heero over the radio.

'Right,' she responded as the two powered their Gundam's and flew towards the battle.

As they got near, Heero could see that ZAFT still had the upper hand.

'Luna, you got help the Murasame's over there. I'll take care of Shinn,' he said as he flew towards the dueling Gundam's.

Shinn had been toying with Cagalli for the last few minutes and knew that it was time to end it.

'Take this,' he cried as he did a back flip and threw a beam boomerang which sliced off the Akatsuki's arm.

He then charged in with his trademark sword attack and was about to take Cagalli out when Heero arrived. Heero flew in and took the blow on Wing Zero's shield and forced his way between the Destiny and Cagalli.

'Return to HQ,' ordered Heero.

'Right,' replied Cagalli who was a bit shaken up.

Shinn had recovered from Heero's surprise intervention. He brought the Destiny so that it hovered in line with Wing Zero.

'I'm starting to get sick of your intervention,' cried Shinn in anger.

'Then leave Orb now and I won't hurt you,' replied Heero calmly.

'Do you forget, I beat you last time.'

'Only because I let you.'

'Then don't hold back this time,' cried Shinn as he charged at Heero who dodged the attack.

This made Shinn go mad with rage as he activated his Seed Mode and charged again.

Cagalli in the meantime had arrived at Orb Defence HQ. As soon as she reached the control room she located Yuna and punched him in the face.

'Have we located Djibril yet?'

'No mam. We've got teams looking all over the island,' answered the officer.

'Damn it,' growled Cagalli as she turned her attention to the battle.

Shinn continued to charge at Heero who kept on dodging the attack making Shinn madder as he went.

'You won't beat me like this,' taunted Heero.

'Then how about this,' retorted Shinn as he pressed some keys on the console.

Destiny's eyes flashed and the OS flashed "DESTINY" as Shinn activated the Destiny System. Shinn felt his mind go clearer than with SEED mode as the Destiny System took over him and he was shown how he should be attacking Heero.

'He's activated the system Zero. This should be interesting,' said Heero as he knew ZERO was better.'

'Time to die,' cried Shinn as he charged at Heero.

To be continued…

**Another chapter down. Please read and review!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Freedom and Justice**

Shinn charged at Wing Zero, just as the Destiny showed him to do and Heero counted as Zero showed him. The two machines were predicting each other's movements so well that they became engaged in a kind of dance as the clashed swords. Most of the battlefield had stopped the fight as they witnessed the two pilots duel.

'What's going on there?' asked Cagalli as they brought in a visual of the fight.

The same question was asked aboard the Minerva and Archangel with only Rey knowing the answer.

'He's using the Destiny System,' answered Rey when Gladys buzzed him in the briefing room.

'What is that?'

'It's our version of Wing Zero's Zero System and is supposed to be superior. Shinn must have decided to test it out against the original.'

'I see,' said Gladys as she returned to the battle.

The two machines continued to meet each other's predictions blow for blow until Zero sensed something.

'I thought so Zero,' said Heero in response. 'You won't be able to beat me until you master that system Shinn. Zero can counter everything you throw at me.'

'Shut up,' cried Shinn as he fired the cannon and charged with the sword.

'And how is your power supply?' asked Heero as he countered.

This caused Shinn to look at his panel which allowed Heero to close in and slice off the Destiny's sword arm.

'Ah shit,' said Shinn.

'Go and re-supply. I'll be waiting.'

'I'll get you, you bastard,' growled Shinn as he flew back to the Minerva.

Once Shinn was out of range, Heero flew towards the closest battle and helped disable the enemy forces. Most of the Orb pilots sat in awe at the new Wing Zero's power as he easily shot through the Gouf's and Ash's.

Shinn was waiting impatiently in the briefing room as he watched the crewman repair and re-equip the Destiny. Rey was silently watching him from a corner.

'He won't be lucky this time,' said Shinn as he stared from the window.

'We'll both launch this time,' replied Rey which made Shinn look at him. 'I know you want to take care of Orb yourself and that's fine but it'll take both of us to beat Heero.'

'Just don't get in my way,' responded Shinn as he walked to the elevator to the hanger.

Back on the battlefield, the Archangel was struggling to the hold the Orb fleet lines as ship after ship kept charging at it.

'Thirty to port,' yelled Murrue as a load of missiles just missed the ship. 'Keep them off us.'

Suddenly, an Ash appeared from nowhere right in front of the bridge.

'No,' cried Murrue silently as she watched the Ash's hand start to glow.

The crew waited for death to arrive but where interrupted as the Ash exploded.

'What the?' asked the crew as they saw a fighter above them.

'Sorry about that,' said Neo. 'But I've got a score to settle with these ZAFT guys myself.'

'Thank you,' was all that Murrue could say.

'I'll protect the ship so don't worry, cause I've got a knack from making the impossible possible,' he finished before ending the line.

Neo's last statement made Murrue stay silent as he spoke the infamous motto of Mu La Flaga.

Heero was making easy work of the ZAFT forces as he was disabling Gouf's and Ash's left right and centre. The Orb forces and Luna just sat back and watched as Wing Zero did all of the work. But this show was cut short as Zero picked up two signals.

'It's them Zero,' said Heero as he knew who it was. 'Take back over Luna.'

'Right,' she replied as Heero flew off to keep Rey and Shinn away from Orb.

The Legend and Destiny came into view as Heero flew closer.

'Let's do this right from the start,' said Shinn as he activated the Destiny system again.

'Understood,' replied Rey as he activated the Legend's Destiny system.

The two Gundam's then charged at Wing Zero with a renewed vigour.

'Both of them have it activated,' said Heero. 'This should be fun.'

Zero flashed in Heero as a response as he swapped the buster rifle to the shield and pulled out the beam sabre and connected the cable to power it up 50%. Shinn pulled his Androit sword and went to clash swords as Rey provided rear cover with the DRAGOON backpack. Heero avoided the shots and parried with Shinn. He forced him away from Rey's cover and fired the buster rifle at the Legend which took the shots on the shield.

'This is just like fighting the Epyon,' said Heero as he looked like he was having fun. 'But they're nowhere near Zech's league.'

Heero then focused his emotions and started to force Shinn downwards as he powered the thruster's. Shinn saw this coming and activated the Wings of Light to avoid the attack and got behind Heero. Heero turned to face the Destiny and got caught under the arms by Rey.

'Now Shinn!,' cried Rey as he held Wing Zero's arms out of the way.

'Not bad boys,' said Heero almost laughing as he watched Shinn prepare to charge. 'But not good enough.'

Just as Shinn was about to skewer the cockpit a shot came down from the air.

'What was that?' asked Shinn in surprise.

All of the people of the battlefield looked up to see what looked like a shooting star charge at the battlefield.

'He's here,' said Heero as he got a visual.

The re-entry heat had disappeared and the Strike Freedom became visible to everyone.

'But I killed you,' gasped Shinn in shock.

Kira put the beam rifles on the hips and charged at the Destiny with both shields activated as he pushed him away from Wing Zero. Rey had got caught up in Kira's entry and had forgotten about Heero. He was soon reminded as Heero activated the beam Gatling's and shot the Legend in the face.

'What the…?' questioned Rey as he backed off of Wing Zero.

'I have 180o firing axis with the beam Gatling's. I can also shoot straight up in the air if I have to,' said Heero as he flew over to the Strike Freedom.

Both sets of Gundam's hovered in front of each other as the two ZAFT pilots took a minute to re-compose themselves.

'Looks like I made it just in time,' said Kira.

'Looks like it,' replied Heero. 'Did you bring Athrun's?'

'Yes. Lacus take the Justice to the Archangel.'

'Ok,' came Lacus' voice from a cloud as she flew towards the Archangel with Kira and Heero as guards.

On the Archangel, Athrun got up from his seat to go meet Lacus in the hanger.

'At least Orb's still holding,' said Kira as he looked at the battlefield. 'Where is Cagalli?'

'Orb Defence Headquarters. She's looking for Djibril.'

'I understand and are these the new machines?'

'Yes, they use a system similar to Zero but it's nowhere near as useful since they haven't mastered it.'

'Should we restart the fight?' asked Kira anxiously.

'Roger that,' replied Heero as both of them powered the thrusters and charged at the two ZAFT machines.

'Get ready,' warned Rey as the four Gundam's clashed swords.

Rey was duelling Heero while Kira had Shinn. Both Coordinator's activated their SEED factors as they melee. Kira forced Shinn back and fired the rail cannons which hit with minimum impact.

'_This would have been over if they had been beams_,' Shinn thought to himself. 'Is that what this is, a lesson?'

Kira said nothing as he waited to parry Shinn's next attack. The four Gundam's created another show for the people watching the battle.

Cagalli's search for Djibril was becoming useless.

'Any luck yet?' she asked for the tenth time that minute.

'Section report,' ordered the officer.

The sections from one to ten didn't have anything new.

'Damn it and Yuna is absolutely useless since he won't talk. Take him to the brig,' ordered Cagalli.

'Yes Mam,' replied the Military Police.

'Where is that bastard?' asked Cagalli in rage.

Djibril in question was using his Logos power to manipulate some of the guards to help him escape via the Seiran's shuttle which was waiting for him.

Back on the battlefield, Neo was defending the ship like he said he would until he got hit by a rear shot.

'Think you can take me in again?' he asked smoothly.

'Deck crew prepare the emergency net,' ordered Murrue.

As Neo flew towards the launch catapult, he got a sudden flash of Déjà vu as he saw a vision of him performing this action before. He shook himself from it and landed the fighter. He then jumped into a Sky Grasper and took off again.

Inside the hanger, Athrun was looking at the Infinite Justice that Lacus had brought.

'Are you going to fight again?' asked Meyrin as she had followed Athrun to the hanger.

'When I left Gibraltar that day I had no intention of ever getting back in a cockpit but now that Orb is under attack I will fight to defend it.'

'That's the Athrun I know,' said Lacus as she returned from changing into her normal clothes.

'To protect something is the only reason you should fight,' continued Athrun as he walked up to the Gundam and put his hand on it. 'Together once more Justice.'

Back on the battlefield Heero and Kira were holding off Shinn and Rey a little tougher then they had thought. They were starting to lose control of the Destiny System just like Heero did with Zero. Their attacks were becoming more ferocious as that had no idea of what they were doing.

'You will pay for everything you have done to Gilbert,' cried Rey as he charged at Heero.

Heero prepared for the attack but was pulled up as something came in quick on the radar. The unknown object blocked the attack and as the smoke cleared the red and purple Infinite Justice could be seen.

'Go defend Orb, Heero,' said Athrun. 'I've got this.'

'Roger that,' said Heero as he turned and flew back to where the ZAFT forces were on the main island.

'Stop this at once Shinn and Rey,' cried Athrun as he blocked them from chasing Heero.

'Why should we? Orb is a traitor to Gilbert and so are you,' retorted Rey as he drew his sword to attack Athrun.

Shinn took this as reason enough to keep attacking Kira. The Freedom and Justice started to fight just like they had during the last battle against Orb as they confused the two ZAFT pilots by switching opponents. When Athrun jumped to Shinn he tried to get him to stop.

'You don't know what you are doing, Shinn,' said Athrun as the two crossed blades. 'The Chairman is just as corrupt as Djibril. So stop attacking your home.'

'Orb isn't my home and Destiny is showing me that anyone that defies the Chairman is my enemy, including you!' he cried as he powered the thruster's to drive the Justice back.

On Onogoro Island, Djibril had made it to the shuttle and boarded.

'Take off at once,' he spat.

'What about the Seiran's?' asked the Officer.

'Who cares? Leave before Orb falls.'

'Yes Sir,' replied the Officer reluctantly.

The forces attacking Onogoro all pulled up as their radar's went off.

'What's that?' asked Luna as she turned to look at the source.

Suddenly a rocket sped from the ground and headed for the atmosphere.

'It's Djibril, stop him Luna,' ordered Heero as he was powered the boosters to try and reach him.

'Right,' replied Luna as she powered her boosters to max to try and catch up.

A squad of Murasame's formed up behind the Impulse as they tried to reach the shuttle. As it built up speed the chasers died away. Luna fired some shots in vain as she was out run by the shuttle.

'Damn it,' she cried.

On the shuttle, Djibril chuckled as he saw that he was going to escape and closed his eyes to relax. But his joy was shattered when the alarm went off.

'What is it?' he asked angrily.

'It's coming to fast to tell,' replied an officer.

Djibril looked outside to see Wing Zero flying towards him.

'We can't out run it,' cried the officer as Heero drew his beam saber and was about to slice the shuttle.

'I planned for this. Release it,' ordered Djibril.

'Yes Sir,' replied the officer as he pressed a button.

Outside Heero had closed in and was about to finish the Logos leader when Zero picked something up.

'Oh no,' gasped Heero as he saw it drop out the other side of the shuttle.

He watched as the 10 kiloton nuclear bomb fell towards the island. For the first time, Heero wasn't sure whether he should chase Djibril or stop the bomb.

'Guide me Zero,' he pleaded as Zero started to fly towards the bomb. 'Mission Accepted.'

Heero gunned Wing Zero to the max as he rushed to beat the bomb to Orb. He hit the island and turned around to see the bomb no less than a kilometre from the island. He quickly aimed the buster rifle as Zero locked on with its improved sensors and targeting. His shot was true as he fired the buster rifle and shot it down as the entire battlefield had pulled up when the shuttle left Orb and dropped the bomb.

'That was too close,' gasped Cagalli as she had been frozen with fear at the thought of that bomb hitting Orb.

On the Minerva, Gladys had regained her composure and new there was no need for them to remain at Orb.

'Tell all forces that we are withdrawing,' ordered Gladys.

'But why?' asked Arthur.

'Because our objective was to capture Djibril and he was on that shuttle.'

'I understand,' replied Arthur as he activated the signal flares.

Shinn and Rey pulled up as they picked up the flares.

'We failed our mission, Shinn,' said Rey as the Destiny system told them that Djibril had escaped. 'Time to leave.'

'Damn it,' growled Shinn as he turned and followed Rey before taking one final look at Orb and the Freedom and Justice.

The battle for Orb was over but Djibril had escaped both forces. Serious events were about to unfold.

**Chapter 27 down. Please Read and Review.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Requiem**

The battle for Orb was over and Djibril had escaped. The ZAFT forces left Orb territory in a sombre mood as they failed their objective but were glad that they didn't have to fight Orb any longer. Shinn and Rey were the only ones that didn't feel this way as they had failed to defeat Heero, Kira and Athrun and failed to kill Djibril. To them this meant that they had failed the trust that Chairman Durandal had placed in them.

'So after the shuttle escaped I felt that there was no need to continue fighting,' said Gladys to Durandal as they talked over video chat.

'I see and you believe that Djibril was on that shuttle?'

'Yes I do and he dropped a nuclear warhead towards Orb. If Heero hadn't stopped it we all would be dead right now.'

'Yes you made the correct choice Thalia. Please return to Gibraltar immediately. The Minerva will be heading into space to fight the Earth Alliance Space Forces.'

'Understood Sir, Minerva out,' concluded Gladys as she cut the link and returned to her thoughts.

Back at Orb, the Archangel and the four Gundam's had landed at Onogoro Island at the Orb Defence Headquarters. Everyone was exhausted from the battle but luckily only minimal casualties and damage was caused.

'So Djibril was on that shuttle?' asked Kira as they had a sort of debrief.

'Yes and he tried to wipe out Orb and the ZAFT forces by dropping a nuclear warhead on us,' replied Heero.

'That bastard,' cried Cagalli as she thumped the desk.

'Calm down,' said Athrun as he placed his hand on her shoulder. 'It's over now.'

'I know that but he had the mordacity to hide in Orb and then tried to blow us up as payback. And now he's in space doing God know what.'

'Cagalli has a point,' input Heero. 'Now that he's in space he'll most likely be at the Moon preparing some kind of offensive to eliminate the Plants.'

'What!' cried Luna as Heero took hold of her hand to comfort her.

'It's the only way he'll be able to end this war in one move,' answered Kira.

'But I think Durandal knows this so he'll be prepared for it,' added Athrun to add some comfort.

'So what do we do now?' asked Murrue.

'It's Djibril's move now,' answered Heero. 'But I think that Cagalli should make a nationwide statement over these past events and let the rest of the world know what is really happening. And if I'm correct in my assumption then we should draw the fake Lacus out and expose her as well.'

The group nodded their approval and prepared for Cagalli's address to the world. Night had fallen when Cagalli's office had finished being set up. There were camera's from every news network present as they anxiously waited to hear what the re-instated leader of Orb had to say.

'People of the world. I come before you today to address recent events that have taken place here at Orb and around the world,' began Cagalli as a side screen appeared with footage from every battle that had been fought by the Minerva was shown. 'As you can see the devastation caused by this war has been disastrous. But who is really to blame for this war. Logos? Yes as Chairman Durandal said this war is partly to do with Logos but every war has two sides and Chairman…'

The line went static as Cagalli was cut off and Meer Campbell appeared.

'My friends do not be fooled by her words. Chairman Durandal is…' began Meer as her screen was shrunk to show Cagalli's office as well as Meer as the real Lacus walked up behind Cagalli.

'My friends, my name is Lacus Clyne,' said Lacus as everyone in the Plants and on Earth were shocked by the two pink pop stars.

'Got you now,' said Heero after he performed his clever little hack.

'Please do not be fooled by this imposter. I am the real daughter of Siegel Clyne and I was the one who fought alongside Orb and the Freedom and Justice at the battle of Jachin Due.'

'As you can see, Durandal is just as manipulative as the people he claims he is saving us from. He is to blame for this war as well as he didn't do anything to try and end it through diplomacy,' continued Cagalli.

Meer didn't know what to do as Durandal hadn't anticipated the real Lacus to be there.

'Shut it off,' he ordered in defeat.

'I'm sorry,' said Meer as she began to cry at the thought of being disposed of.

'It's not your fault but since you have been exposed you need to be removed from public eyes until this war is over.'

Meer cringed at these words as the tears fell.

Cagalli ended her address by rallying people to stand up against both sides and demand a peaceful end to the war.

'That went better than planned,' said Heero after the news reporters had left.

'So now we wait?' asked Athrun.

'Now we wait,' replied Heero as he left the room with Kira and Lacus following.

Once they were alone Athrun turned to Cagalli.

'You did well,' he said as he embraced the women he loved.

'I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off after that impersonator appeared but thanks to Lacus we did.'

'Cagalli, I…' began Athrun but pulled up as he lost his train of thought. 'I noticed that you're still wearing the ring I gave you.'

Cagalli went a little red as she looked at her hand. 'Well…I…'

'I want you to take it off for me.'

'Why?'

'Because I want to do it properly this time,' he answered as he got down on one knee.

Cagalli handed him the ring. She felt nervous and giddy even though she knew what was coming.

'Cagalli Yula Atha, will you do me the great honour of becoming my wife?'

'Yes,' was all she managed to get out as Athrun slipped the ring back on and kissed her. 'Let's go tell the others.

The newly engaged couple walked to the Archangel and found their friends sitting in the dining room. As they walked in everyone could tell something was up and Cagalli just blurted it out.

'We're getting married,' she squealed as she was surrounded by the girls and Kira, Heero and Neo shook Athrun's hand.

'Looks like we're brothers now,' said Athrun to Kira.

'I thought we always were,' replied Kira as the lifelong friends embraced.

Later that evening, Murrue walked out onto the upper deck and looked up at the night sky.

'It's beautiful, isn't it,' came Neo's voice from behind.

'Yes it is,' she replied as she looked at the face of Mu.

'I…,' began Neo.

'You…' went Murrue.

'You first,' he said with the same smoothness that was spoken by Mu.

'I wanted to thank you for saving the ship. We wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for you.'

'No thanks required. It was like I felt that I need to protect this ship and you,' he said as he took a step closer. 'I feel like I know you and that I should stay here with you.'

'Neo…I…,' began Murrue but she was cut off as Neo hugged her.

'I'm not sure who I am anymore but I do know that you need this,' he said as he pulled back a little before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers.

Murrue felt the same sensation that she felt while kissing Mu and knew that this man was her love as she started kissing back.

The next day, the girls went shopping while the boys worked on their machines. Cagalli had given Neo use of the Akatsuki as she felt that she wouldn't need it anymore as she had too many diplomatic jobs to do, and piloting a mobile suit wasn't required at the present time.

'I'm glad that the Orb government is funding that shopping trip,' said Kira as he sat in the cockpit.

'Too right, our wallets would be burnt out if we weren't here,' replied Athrun as he along with Neo and Kira laughed while Heero remained silent.

'The one I'll never understand about women is why they need so many pairs of shoes,' continued Kira. 'We get along fine with a couple of pairs.'

'And why they have to try everything on even if they don't want to buy it,' said Athrun.

'I'd say it's punishment for us for being men,' input Neo which caused more laughter.

'What do you think the obsession with shopping is, Heero?' asked Athrun as he realised that they hadn't heard anything from him.

'Don't ask me. According to Luna most men don't understand women so I don't think I'll travel down that path,' said Heero which caused a chuckle from the other three.

'That sounded like a joke,' said Athrun. 'Looks like Heero is becoming human.'

'No I'd say that someone's in love,' responded Kira which caused some laughter while Heero went a little red.

'But he's got a point. Most men really don't get women,' said Neo half seriously.

'Yeah the only ones that claim they do are SNAG's,' said Athrun which brought a howl of laughter from all but Heero as he didn't get the joke.

**NB: SNAG is Sensitive New Age Guy for those who don't know.**

Meanwhile at the shopping centre, the girls were having the time of their lives as they visited all the clothing stores in the CBD of Onogoro Island.

'Kira and Athrun would die if they had to pay for all of this,' joked Cagalli to Lacus.

'I know,' replied Lacus. 'And they'd die of boredom is they had to visit all of the shops that we have.'

'I could just imagine them now laden down with all the bags with a depressed expression,' added Cagalli which brought a bout of laughter from the group.

'I wonder what Heero would think of this since he's never had a girlfriend before,' asked Luna as a joke as they all pictured his emotionless expression.

'His apathy may allow him to get through it without much pain,' input Lacus which brought more laughter.

'Men do always find shopping to be hell on Earth,' said Murrue.

'I can't wait to see their faces when we arrive with all of this,' included Meyrin as the looked at the amount of bags they had accumulated between them which brought more laughter.

As the day dragged on, the girls returned with what looked like a truck load of clothes. All four men, including Heero, had a gloomy expression as they knew their wardrobes were about to be taken over. The girls laughed at their looks enjoying themselves as they had no idea of what was about to happen later that night.

'Is it ready?' asked Djibril as he sat in a control room in one of the moon's craters.

'Yes Sir, all of the mirrors are in alignment and the Requiem is fully charged,' answered the officer in charge.

'Good. It is now that we will put an end to this war and rid the world of Coordinator's once and for all,' said Djibril as he was handed the remote. 'For the preservation of our blue and pure world.'

Djibril pressed the button and a power surged erupted inside a focus dish in a nearby crater. The gamma-ray's built up as the energy beam erupted from the dish and flew towards the nearest mirror that was housed in an old colony. It hit the mirror and flew towards the next one. It continued to do this until it bent all the way around the moon and flew at the plants…

**To be continued…**

**That's it for this chapter. Please read and review.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: Destiny**

The beam smashed through the plants as it sailed through the air, eventually dying away. All around the world the footage of this attack was being broadcasted.

'Oh no,' stammered Kira as the crew of the archangel witnessed the attack.

Everyone was frozen in shock, even Heero as Luna held his hand for support.

'Januarius and December too,' gasped Shinn as he stood with the crew of the Minerva watching the footage.

'No,' said Gladys in shock.

All over Earth and the Plants people were breaking down into tears as they witnessed the destruction of their home and loved ones. Djibril couldn't have been happier with how his attack went, even though he missed the capital Aprilius. He demanded that it be recharged for another attack. Durandal acted immediately and ordered front line teams to destroy the relay stations and sent the Minerva to destroy the requiem.

Later on, Heero was lying on his bed thinking about what just happened and what was to come. He sat upright when he heard footsteps outside his door.

'Luna?' said Heero before she could door.

'How did you know it was me?' asked Luna as she entered his room.

'I just did,' replied Heero. He then saw the look on Luna's face. 'What is it?'

'It's all my fault. That thing destroying the Plants,' said Luna as she sat down next to Heero on their bed.

He then took her in his arms as she rested her head on his shoulder as tears started to appear.

'No it's not,' said Heero as he comforted his girlfriend. 'I failed to stop Djibril as well. So don't be hard on yourself okay.'

Luna looked up and Heero wiped the tears from her eyes.

'It's going to get worse from now on isn't it?'

'Yes, it always does,' replied Heero as he thought about how the last war he fought escalated right before the final battle.

'What will happen?' asked Luna.

'Most likely more destruction then the final battle which will be the biggest and worst of all.'

'I'm scared Heero.'

'You wouldn't be human if you weren't,' said Heero. 'But I'm going to protect you and do everything I can to end this war.'

There was silence as Luna continued to rest her head on Heero's shoulder. She then lifted her head to look at him.

'Heero,' said Luna as she looked into his eyes. 'I love you.'

These words caught Heero off guard as he naturally reacted by saying, 'I love you too Lunamaria.'

The two then leant their heads towards each other as they shared a deep kiss. They then pulled away before looking into each other's eyes and kissed again. The kiss turned into one of lust, as they hurriedly removed their clothes as they gave into their passion.

It was an hour before dawn as Heero opened his eyes. It was the first time that he could remember that he had had a proper deep sleep. He then felt a breath on his chest as he looked down to see the sleeping figure of Luna in his arms, using his chest as a pillow.

'_She's so beautiful,_' he thought to himself as he continued to look at the women he loves while lightly running his hand up her perfect curves. '_I guess that I've fallen as far as anyone can, Duo. You were right_.'

He then felt Luna stir as he looked down to see her open her bright violet eyes, which were shinning brighter than before.

'I thought last night was a dream,' said Luna as she looked at Heero.

'It wasn't,' replied Heero as he kissed the top of her head as Luna rested it back on his chest.

'I wonder how long it'll be until we're disturbed,' said Luna as she closed her eyes.

'Heero Yuy to the bridge, Heero Yuy to the bridge,' said a voice over the loud speaker.

'There's your answer,' said Heero as they got out of bed and hurriedly put their discarded clothes on.

As Heero exited his room he saw Miriallia walking towards him.

'There you are,' said Miriallia when she saw Heero. 'Didn't you here the announcement?'

'I did,' said Heero as he tossed on his shirt and started for the bridge. 'I was…preoccupied.'

Miriallia then noticed Luna stick her head out the door as she buttoned up her shirt.

'I see,' said Miriallia with a smile as Luna put her fingers to her lips indicating to keep it quiet while turning red and smiling herself before going back into the room.

'What is it?' asked Heero as he reached the bridge.

'We've learnt that ZAFT will be launching an attack against that weapon and we want you to go up and help destroy it,' answered Cagalli.

'You're the only one capable of getting there in time and that thing can hit Earth is Djibril wanted,' added Athrun.

'Mission Accepted,' was all that Heero said as he left the bridge and headed for the hanger.

He quickly changed into his flight suit and was about to jump into Wing Zero when Luna appeared.

'Leaving without saying goodbye?' she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

'Sorry, I turned my focus on and forgot,' he said as he pulled he close to him. 'Don't worry I'll be alright. I'm going to destroy that weapon and I'll be coming straight back.'

'You promise?' she asked feeling a little concerned about him never coming back.

'Promise,' he said as the two shared a deep kiss.

Luna moved away from the suit as Heero jumped in the cockpit and walked to the launch catapult. As usual he used Wing Zero's power to launch as he gunned the thruster's and flew from the ship. He quickly changed into Neo-bird and pushed the throttle to full as he headed for the moon. Luna remained where she was as he held her hand to heart as she knew she should only feel concern about the man she loves.

'We need to destroy this relay station,' ordered Yzak as his team flew to the first colony.

'Roger that,' replied the team as they started to hit the mirror.

Out of nowhere Earth Alliance support troops came flying in to stop ZAFT's attack.

'Let's get rid of them Dearka,' yelled Yzak as the two Vets opened fire to stop the Windam's from stopping them.

Meanwhile the Requiem was nearly at full charge.

'This time we'll hit the capital for sure,' said Djibril as he watched the power flow increase.

'But what about the relay station under attack?' asked an officer.

'It doesn't matter there are plenty more that can be used. Besides, it's not like they'll be able to stop us. They'd have to send most of their forces to reach us here and we've got the Destroy's for backup.'

'But Wing Zero destroyed five of them without getting hit when ZAFT attacked Heaven's Base.'

'But he's not with ZAFT is he. I don't see why he'd come all the way here.'

'Sir, enemy ship on radar,' said the officer.

'Only one ship,' gasped Djibril. 'The Minerva. Not matter launch the Destroy's at once. We need only a few more minutes and it'll all be over.

'I'll keep Djibril distracted while you fly in and destroy the command centre,' said Rey.

'Right,' replied Shinn as the two Faith pilots launched with a squadron of Gouf's following.

'_Today you pay for all of the pain you caused Gilbert_,' thought Rey to himself as he led his team away from Shinn.

All over the moon, hangers opened up as ten more Destroy's appeared and headed towards Rey and the Minerva.

'They have more of these things,' gasped Arthur.

'For once I wish that Heero was here. He took them out easily last time,' sighed Gladys as he looked at the war machines. Open fire with everything.'

'Yes Mam,' replied the bridge crew as they activated all of the weapons and fired at the Destroy's.

They activated their shields and took most of the shots. Some hit but they didn't seem to faze the machines. One had closed in quickly on the Minerva and was aiming its primary weapon.

'Shoot it,' cried Gladys as Rey and Shinn were too busy fighting off the Destroy's to get back to the ship.

The crew of the Minerva watched as the weapon started to glow brighter. Suddenly a shot came from above as it smashed through the head and blew up the Destroy. Everyone raised their eyes to see where the shot had come from. Floating there was Wing Zero with its buster rifle aimed. Gladys' prayers had been answered as Heero flew down to eliminate the rest of the Destroy's.

'How do we treat him today?' asked Arthur.

'He's here to destroy that weapon. He knows that it can fire anywhere. Tell Shinn and Rey to treat him as friendly until the battle is over,' answered Gladys.

'What?' asked Shinn in shock. 'He's here as well.'

'Let him help. Destroying this weapon is the main priority Shinn,' said Rey as an order.

'Yeah but…'

'Just do it Shinn.'

The two pilots returned their attention to getting to the Requiem. Heero was getting closer to the main force as he flew by eliminating Windam's and a Destroy.

'Shinn, Rey, I'll take care of these. You go destroy the Requiem,' said Heero.

'Let's go Shinn. He's better equipped to handle this,' said Rey as he flew towards the crater with Shinn and what was left of the squadron.

Heero pulled out a beam saber and connected the power cable to it as well as the buster rifle. He then powered the blade and started his attack.

'This can't be happening,' cried Djibril in shock as he watched Heero destroy two more Destroy's and a group of Windam's with ease. 'Fire the Requiem now!'

'But it's not fully charged,' replied an officer.

'I don't care. We need to destroy the Plant's, now FIRE!'

The officer pushed the trigger and the Requiem fired another Gamma-ray that bent around the moon towards the Plants. Because the relay stations weren't set, the beam only hit an outer colony.

'Damn it!' cried Djibril hysterically as he turned to the Earth Alliance leader. 'We need to leave before it's too late.'

'But Sir…'

'As long as I'm alive this war will continue,' he said as he left the control room without being seen and headed for a ship.

Outside, Heero had dispatched the last of the Earth Alliance machines when Zero picked something up with his Search-eye.

'I see him too Zero,' replied Heero. 'Rey, Djibril is trying to escape via shuttle in the next crater over.'

'I've got him,' replied Rey as he left Shinn and flew to where Heero had mentioned.

Shinn was nearing the crater when Heero flew up.

'Reckon you can get destroy the control room if I destroy the Requiem,' asked Heero.

'Who do you think you're talking too,' replied Shinn as he pulled out the Androit sword and flew down to the control room and started slicing it up.

The entire facility started to go up in flames as Shinn destroyed the base. Heero was floating above the Requiem as he charged the buster rifle enough so it wouldn't destroy the moon. Once Shinn was clear he fired and destroyed the Requiem. The two Gundam's then turned to face each other as the crater exploded.

A lone ship had managed to escape and was heading towards another Earth Alliance base. As it flew out the hanger it pulled up as Rey appeared in the Legend.

'For Gilbert,' he said as he fired at the ship causing it to explode and killing Djibril.

In the Plants, Durandal smiled as he sensed his enemy had been eliminated.

'It's over,' said Rey over the distress channel so that everyone could rejoice in the total destruction of Logos and the super weapon.

'Now it's your turn,' said Shinn as he pointed his sword at Heero.

'Not today,' he replied as he flew backwards before turning back to Neo-bird and heading towards Earth.

'You cowardly bastard,' cried Shinn as he watched the person he hated fly away.

'Return to the ship Shinn,' ordered Rey as he noticed the Destiny looking at Heero's jet trail.

The two Gundam's boarded the Minerva and were greeted by cheers as they flew back to the Plant's feeling safe.

Heero pulled Wing Zero up and guided it back into the hanger. As he walked in he noticed Luna standing in the same place as when he left. He quickly "parked" Wing Zero in its slot and jumped out the cockpit as Zero powered down.

'Heero,' said Luna in almost a whisper as she ran to the pilot and wrapped her arms around him.

'Told you I'd be coming back,' he said as he hugged Luna close.

'It's over then?' came Kira's voice as the rest of the group arrived in the hanger.

'It's over. Djibril is dead and the Requiem destroyed. Now it's Durandal's move,' answered Heero.

'I bet it has something to do with this,' said Athrun as he handed Heero the book the Dacosta found.

'This is the plan of a madman,' he said as he flipped through the pages.

'You can understand it?' asked Lacus.

'Yes it's similar to Coordinator DNA manipulation but it's even more advanced than that. It's almost as if…' but Heero was cut off as an announcement was made.

'Durandal is addressing the world after the events,' came Mir's voice.

The group quickly rushed up to the bridge as Durandal began his speech.

'As you know the reason behind this war was the existence of Logos,' began Durandal as a side screen showed footage from the armoury one incident to the fall of Junius Seven to all the battles up to now. 'And now that they have been destroyed you may think that the war is over. It's not. I now present to you an even greater enemy. One even more powerful and older then Logos. The real reason why war exists.'

'This is it,' said Heero as he looked at the book and knew where Durandal was going.

'It's humanity. Our desires, our impulses. Our need for more is what drives us to fight even when we don't need to. I hereby implement the Destiny Plan as a measure to eradicate war from the world forever.'

'Chairman,' gasped Gladys as she like everyone else in the world was shocked by this revelation.

The only person that wasn't shocked was Ray as he knew all along where Durandal was going. The final move had been made. The fate of the world will soon be decided…

**Almost nearing the 00 half of the story. Please Read and Review**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Lacus Times Two**

All over the world, videos were being shown about how the Destiny Plan would work. It showed how by analysing a person's DNA it would be able to tell a person what their rightful place in the world would be. This is how Durandal planned on eliminating war permanently.

'How could someone be so twisted as to tell a person how they should be living their lives?' asked Cagalli in disgust as she watched the screen with the others.

'It's the plan of a mad man alright,' said Athrun.

'But if everyone lives their life like a robot who would be in charge?' asked Mir.

'Durandal,' answered Kira with disgust.

'And he wouldn't just be in charge. He'd rule over this new world as a God with only a select few exempt from this plan,' added Heero.

'Like Captain Gladys, Shinn and Rey?' asked Luna.

'The only people that follow Durandal's orders without question,' said Heero by way of an answer. 'They wouldn't need to go through this as they already have their rightful place in the world.'

'We should try and stop this before it goes further,' said Athrun.

'I agree. We need to find out which nations on Earth are opposed to this idea. It'd be safe to say that everyone on the Plants is in full support of Durandal,' added Heero.

'We should go to the Moon,' suggested Lacus. 'It'll be easy to hide and keep an eye on things.'

'We can rendezvous with the Eternal and Orb fleet while we're at it,' said Kira as everyone gave their approval of the plan.

'I'll stay here to keep an eye on Earth,' said Cagalli. 'I also think that Durandal will send what's left of his ground force here once the battle begins in space. He'll try to eliminate all opposed straight away. I'll use Orb as the gather point if a battle starts here.'

'Good idea. The people of Earth will need a strong leader to hold them together so no civil war breaks out,' said Athrun.

'Then it's settled. To the Moon we go,' said Murrue.

The preparations were then made for the Archangels departure from Orb. The Orb Lunar Fleet was alerted to the plan and started to prepare themselves for battle. In Orb, Cagalli was bidding farewell to her friends as they final preparations were being made.

'Take care Cagalli,' said Kira as the two embraced.

'You too,' she replied as she hugged Lacus then looked at Heero who gave her the "don't you even think about it look". 'Look after everyone for me.'

'Roger that,' replied Heero.

'You come back to me,' she said as she reached Athrun.

Everyone else had already boarded the Archangel to give the two a moment.

'You know I will,' he replied as he took the women he loved into his arms. 'I love you.'

'I love you too,' she said back as the two kissed.

'Take care,' he said as he boarded the ship without taking his eyes off of Cagalli.

'Are we all set then?' asked Murrue as Kira, Heero and Athrun entered the bridge while the girls went to the dining room.

'Please launch Ms Murrue,' said Kira.

Newman fired up the ships engines and signalled to the control tower to activate the Mass Driver. The magnetic current was activated and the Archangel was flung along the ramp and thrown into the air. He powered the boosters and sailed the ship up through the atmosphere and headed for the Moon.

'Have you ever been here before?' Luna asked Heero as the Archangel docked into a secure hanger so ZAFT wouldn't be alerted to their presence.

'A couple of times,' he answered. 'But this Moon is defiantly different to the one in my world.'

'How's that?'

'It wasn't a tourist destination. It was a giant research facility.'

'I see,' she replied as the two left their room after changing into civvies. (Actually Luna changed into civvies while Heero just watched as Heero always wore civvies).

'We should remain pretty inconspicuous since this place will be crowded,' said Kira as the six people met up.

'Are you sure Ms Murrue and Commander La Flaga didn't want to come?' asked Lacus.

'I'm sure they have things to do,' answered Athrun which drew a sly grin from his best friend.

'So what do we do first?' asked Meyrin as she had never been on a reconnaissance mission.

'First we need to get some transport,' answered Heero as they disembarked the ship.

'I know just the place,' said Athrun as he led them from the hanger and up to a high class rental shop.

'You and your sports cars,' said Kira jokingly.

'Nothing beats a V8, right Heero?' asked Athrun.

'Only a Gundam,' replied Heero which caused some laughter.

'Looks like you're turning him human,' whispered Lacus to Luna which caused the two to silently giggle.

Athrun and Heero went inside and got two up market V8's which were brought out front. Kira, Athrun, Lacus and Meyrin got into one while Heero and Luna got into another. The group then headed towards the CBD.

'So where to first?' asked Heero already dreading the answer.

'Shopping!' said all three girls in unison which brought simultaneous groans from the boys.

It had only been an hour and the girls had already visited over a dozen shops collecting a bag from each, and they hadn't even hit the clothes department yet.

'How much money do you have left?' asked Athrun as he strained under the bags.

'I don't know but I doubt that Cagalli pays me enough. How about you Heero?' answered Kira.

'Maybe enough to last the day,' he said. But secretly he had still had a fair bit from the money that he had stolen from the bank accounts.

'Hurry up guys,' called Luna as the girls located the clothes stores.

'Coming,' groaned the boys as they slowly put one foot after the other.

As they reached the store they noticed that all three girls had cheeky grins.

'What's going on?' asked Kira suspiciously.

'You need new clothes,' said Lacus as she dragged Kira towards the racks.

'And you need clothes in general, especially something decent for when you take me out to fancy restaurants,' said Luna as she too dragged Heero inside.

'Fancy restaurants?' question Heero silently.

'Glad I'm not you two,' laughed Athrun as Kira and Heero glared.

'Actually Cagalli made sure that we'd get you some more as well,' giggle Meyrin as Athrun reluctantly let himself be dragged inside.

Even after all of his torture training, Heero had never experienced anything as excruciatingly painful as what he had just endured. Sixty minuted of being told to try this and that one. The three boys would rather fight a whole armada of Gundams then have to do that again.

'At least it's over now,' said Heero.

'It's only just begun,' replied Athrun.

'Next it's their turn and we have to sit in the one spot while they try on a billion things while asking us if they look good,' added Kira.

'The pain has only just begun,' finished Athrun.

'Well maybe they'll try on something decent,' said Heero reluctantly. 'Duo always said that women look good in bikinis and I tend to believe him now.'

'Enjoy seeing a bit of skin after Diocuia,' said Athrun smartly.

'And the rest,' responded Heero which caused some sly grins from the other two.

'Lucky man,' said Athrun. 'When did this happen?'

'After the Requiem was fired,' he answered.

The boys continued their conversation while the girls were busy sorting through the clothes racks. Lacus looked up from one and saw Luna looking at an outfit that had a red halter top, white jacket, yellow bandanna and blue mini skirt.

'Wanting to show off a bit for Heero?' asked Lacus.

'It wouldn't be something he hasn't already seen,' replied Luna softly.

'You don't mean…' said Lacus as Luna nodded so Meyrin wouldn't overhear. 'When did this happen?'

'After the Requiem was fired,' answered Luna. 'I was feeling upset and it sort of just happened.'

'He must be human now,' said Lacus which caused some giggles. 'Time to torture the boys some more.'

'Yep,' answered Luna as the two grabbed their piles and headed to the change rooms.

The three boys and Meyrin waited out front of the stalls as the two girls changed. They then reappeared, striking a pose and asked the question.

'Looks good,' said both of them pretending to be interested.

'And this?'

'It is also nice.'

'Looks like it's going to be the same thing,' said Luna through the stall wall.

'Time to turn up the heat,' said Lacus.

The next time they drew the curtain, both Kira and Heero were gobsmacked. Both girls had picked out an outfit that showed some leg, tummy and cleavage.

'What do think of this?'

'It's…you…' mumbled both boys.

The three girls and Athrun laughed at the two pilot's loss of speech. Feeling that they had achieved their goal, they turned to change into something else when a familiar sound interrupted them.

'Haro, Haro,' came the mechanical voice as a red ball bounced over to the group and rolled up to Lacus.

'It's a note,' she said as she picked up the piece of paper attached to the ball.

'Meer,' said Athrun as they all read the note.

'Trap,' said Kira.

'Most defiantly,' replied Heero. 'Let's get the girls to safety then have a look.'

'Hold on just a minute,' said Lacus in an unusual tone. 'If we can fight in battles I'm sure we can survive this.'

'I can already tell that it'd be useless trying to argue,' said Athrun as the girls nodded. 'Fine but you don't leave us for anything.'

'Alert the Archangel and have La Flaga on standby,' said Kira.

The boys paid for the final items and headed towards the amphitheatre where Meer's note had told them to meet. The boys drew their guns and moved cautiously to the stage. As they walked through the entrance they saw Meer sitting in the open.

'Athrun,' she called as she ran towards the group.

'Stupid girl,' said the assassin as she lost her visual.

'Stop right there Meer Campbell,' said Athrun as he pointed his gun at her.

'Athrun?' asked Meer.

'Just what kind of trick are you pulling?'

'Please. I believe what you told me about the Chairman now. He's using me to kill you then he'll kill me.'

'How many are there?' asked Heero as he scanned for movement or glares.

'I don't know. I only know of the women that has been guarding me,' answered Meer.

'Then get inside,' demanded Heero as Meer walked to where the others were. Once inside Heero turned to Athrun and spoke softly. 'Cover me.'

'Right,' he answered as he turned back to the seats and took aim. 'Go.'

Like lightning, Heero dashed across the stage and caused the assassin's to open fire. He shot one while Athrun he another. Two more appeared and Heero took them with a grenade. Bullets started coming from all over the seating and the group hid behind the wall. Meer was shivering with fear as the bullets hit the wall behind them. Lacus crawled over to her and the two "twins" looked into their own face.

'It's ok Miss Meer. As long as you have faith it will be alright,' said Lacus.

'I'm sorry for what I did,' said Meer as she felt tears appear. 'I'm your biggest fan and I couldn't resist the opportunity to be you.'

'I understand but it's over now. You can come with us where it's safe. Would you like that?'

'Yes Miss Lacus.'

The two then covered their heads as more shots came in. Another minute passed and Heero and Athrun managed to kill the rest. Suddenly, the dust started to blow and the Akatsuki appeared above.

'Looks like you kids need some help,' said Neo over the loudspeaker.

'Please take the girls back to the Archangel,' said Kira.

'You've got it,' replied Neo as he lowered the hand.

'Come on,' said Athrun as he offered his hand to Meer to climb onto the hand.

As she was about to, she quickly saw one of the assassins sit up and point her gun at Lacus.

'No!' cried Meer as she pushed Lacus out of the road and took the bullet.

Heero and Athrun turned and emptied their clips into her.

'Miss Meer!' the boys turned back to see a pool of blood and Lacus holding Meer as the life left her eyes.

Tears appeared in the girl's eyes and Athrun's as they looked at the still body of Meer. Neo called for a jeep from the Archangel and took the group back to the ship.

**Chapter 30 down. Coming up to the climax of the Seed Destiny cannon. Not long until the 00 universe. Please read and review.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Durandal Strikes**

Sadness could be felt all over the ship as Meer's body was carried into the morgue. She had sacrificed her life to protect Lacus' so nobody was judging her for what she had done in the past. As Lacus was going through her bag, she pulled out a disk and a photo of a black haired woman.

'This must be her,' she said as she showed the photo to the others.

'I wonder what's on the disk?' asked Athrun.

'Let's find out,' answered Heero as he took the disk and pulled up the files. 'It reads like some kind of journal.'

'Must be her diary,' said Lacus as she took Heero's spot and started reading as the others looked over her shoulder.

'She really loved you,' said Luna as they read the part where she got asked to impersonate Lacus.

'The poor girl really didn't know what she was being used for,' said Kira.

The diary went on to explain how she became Lacus and her infatuation with Athrun. As well as her worries that she wouldn't be able to pull it off as well as her concerns for the war and her job.

'She was almost like a prototype for the Destiny Plan,' said Heero as they finished reading. 'Durandal gave her the life that best suited her in a way.'

'Then we must stop him before something like this happens again,' said Athrun.

Later that day, the crew of the Archangel held a funeral for Meer as they sent her flower filled coffin into space so she could rest in peace. The crew then spent their efforts to get the ship ready for the battle they were about to start. As Heero was sorting through some of Zero's files he showed him a vision.

'The Atlantic Federation is about to launch their fleet from Arzachel,' said Heero over the com link.

The pilots quickly jumped from their Gundam's and headed for the bridge.

'Ask the Terminal to try and get a visual of Arzachel,' ordered Heero.

'Why?' asked Murrue as Mir quickly sent the message.

'You'll soon find out,' replied Heero as the visual was brought up.

An image of the crater appeared on the screen. There was no activity to speak of until the bunker doors opened up and the rest of the Atlantic Federation's fleet rose from the hanger and headed towards the Plant's.

'Not good,' said Athrun as they watched the fleet pick up speed.

At the Plant's primary defence line, a giant fortress appeared as it disengaged its Mirage Colloid system. It was made from an old meteor and resembled Jachin Due in a way.

'Is it ready yet?' asked Durandal from the central control room.

'Sixty seconds until maximum power is reached,' replied and officer.

'Good. Soon this war will be over and we'll only have those meddling fools to deal with,' said Durandal more to himself then anyone.

'Ready to fire Sir,' said the officer.

'Aim at Arzachel and wipe out the Atlantic Federation,' ordered Durandal as the officers punched in keys. 'Fire!'

'What's that?' asked Kira as on the screen static lines started to appear.

On the far side of the Moon, the rebuilt Requiem fired its Gamma-ray beam and used the relay stations to bend the beam all the way around as it hit the Atlantic Federation fleet and continued on to hit Arzachel and kill the President of the Atlantic Federation.

'They rebuilt the Requiem,' gasped Luna.

'Why not, it's a powerful weapon that Durandal gained control of,' said Athrun.

'Guess I didn't blow it up enough,' said Heero as he cursed himself.

'What damage was caused?' asked Kira as Mir sent a message to the Terminal.

'What was left of the Atlantic Federation fleet as well as the President and Arzachel,' answered Mir.

'Looks like we have to targets now, Durandal and Requiem,' said Neo.

'We need to take out the first relay station. That way he can't bend the beam,' assessed Heero as he pulled up a map showing the locations of the abandoned colonies.

'It will most likely be heavily guarded as Durandal will have predicted something like this,' said Athrun.

'Then we need to move now,' said Kira. 'Send word to the Eternal, the Orb fleet and the Terminal that we are taking out the first relay station immediately.'

'Right,' answered Mir as she typed away.

'Time to go,' said Heero as Newman started to prep the ship as the pilots headed for the hanger.

'Hold on,' said Murrue as she grabbed Neo's arm.

'What is it?' he asked.

'Come back this time,' she said as she knew he didn't know what she meant.

'Will do,' he said as the two kissed before he headed to the hanger.

'I'll take Lacus over to the Eternal and equip the Meteor,' said Kira as he Lacus hopped into the Freedom and headed for the launch catapult with Athrun following in the Justice.

Heero and Luna watched as the Freedom and Justice left the Archangel. Luna then grabbed hold of Heero's flight suit collar and pulled his head down to hers.

'I probably don't need to tell you to be safe but I probably do have to tell you to not do anything reckless,' she said as she looked him in his deep blue eyes that showed warmth whenever he was with Luna.

'You know me,' he replied.

'That's what I mean.'

'Don't worry I'll be out their protecting you and the others and ending this war.'

'I gathered by now that it's what you do best.'

'I'm also pretty good at this,' he said as he pressed his lips to hers as they shared a deep kiss.

'Time to launch,' he said as they broke apart.

The two then hopped into their Gundam's and headed for the launch catapult. As the left the ship they flew out in front as the Archangel launched behind them and went to meet up with the Eternal.

'Please have Shinn and Rey bring their mobile suits over here before the Minerva heads to Relay Station One,' ordered Durandal.

'Yes Sir,' said the communication's officer.

'Sir, enemy forces are advancing on Relay Station One,' said the radar officer.

'Have our forces head their at once,' demanded Durandal as he hadn't expected them to move so soon.

'You understand why the Chairman is doing this, don't you Shinn?' asked Rey as he still hadn't gotten an answer from Shinn as to whether he believed in the Chairman or not.

'I do Rey it's just…' began Shinn as he thought back to earlier events.

**Flashback:**

'Is the Chairman serious about this?' asked Shinn in surprise after Durandal announced the Destiny Plan.

'He is,' answered Rey. 'He believes that this is the only way that war can truly be eliminated and I plan to see it through. The only question I have is do you believe in him?'

'I don't know Rey. I understood the war when we fought the Earth Forces and when we attacked Logos. But this plan and rebuilding that weapon that attacked the Plants is just too much for me to grasp at this point. I mean the war was over, wasn't it?'

'The war will never be over until Gilbert…' began Rey as he clenched his head in pain as a severe headache came on suddenly and he rushed to his bed.

'What's wrong Rey?' gasped Shinn as he watched his friend clench his fist in pain while he struggled to open a container with some pills in it.

Rey managed to get the pills into his mouth and started to calm down after a minute. He then looked at Shinn who had a concerned look on his face.

'The reason I am asking you this is because I need someone to protect the Chairman after I'm gone,' said Rey.

'What do you mean?'

'I was born with short "tell 'em" years. I was never told how long I was going to live for but I promised myself that I'd live long enough to ensure that Gilbert succeeded in making this world pure.'

'You're talking like a dying man, Rey.'

'I am. I may only have a few years left. For you see, I am a clone.'

Shinn had a look of utter disbelief on his face after his friend's revelation and didn't have a chance to say anything.

**End Flashback:**

'I don't know but I do know that the Chairman hasn't wronged me yet so I'll continue to do my job,' said Shinn finally.

Pleased with the answer Rey and Shinn flew from the Minerva and landed at the Messiah fortress.

'Shinn, Rey, how nice to see you again,' said Durandal as the two pilots entered the control room.

'Chairman,' said the two together as they saluted.

'I thank you for all that you have done in this war. I understand that it has been stressing at some point but I thank you for your continuing loyalty.'

'It was nothing Sir,' said Shinn but without the usual smile he normally had around Durandal.

'It's everything, Shinn. Your actions have helped ensure our home's survival and that is more than nothing. But I must ask you to protect us one last time. Look there,' said Durandal as the big screen showed the Terminal forces moving towards Relay Station One. 'Once they defeat us there they will head here and I must ask you to protect us so that our dreams can be realised.'

Shinn continued to stare in monotone at the Chairman as he still wasn't entirely convinced of the Destiny Plan.

'You do believe in me, don't you Shinn?'

Shinn remained silent as memories from his families, the war and up to now came reeling back into his mind as it landed on the one conclusion.

'I believe in Destiny Sir,' answered Shinn as Durandal and Rey both looked at each other at Shinn's answer.

'Thank you Shinn. Now please launch at once,' finished Durandal.

Shinn had a new look of determination on his face as he and Rey headed for their Gundam's.

'We're nearing Relay Station One,' said Meyrin over the radio as the Three-Ship's Alliance fleet was almost at the colony.

'Let's go,' said Heero as he and the other Gundam's flew behind in 'V' formation.

'Keep an eye open for enemy forces,' said Kira.

'No need, they're right there,' said Neo as the fleet assigned to protect the relay station appeared on the Plant's side of the colony.

'Tell the Orb forced to concentrate on destroying the station, we'll handle these guys,' said Athrun.

'No Minerva or Shinn or Rey,' said Luna as they got closer to the enemy.

'That makes this job a little easier,' said Kira.

The five Gundam's flew at the fleet as they launched their ZAKU's and GOUF's to engage. It was almost like target practice for the Gundam's as they easily dispatched the factory suits. But the amount of forces the enemy was throwing at them didn't allow for an easy victory.

'This is taking too long,' said Heero. 'Kira, Athrun; use the Meteor's to help dismantle the colony.'

'Right,' said the two as they disengaged and flew towards the colony.

Yzak's team had just arrived at the battle and as they saw the Freedom, Justice, Eternal and Archangel, he and Dearka were having thoughts as who to help.

'So what do we do?' asked Dearka as they sortied.

'We're going to protect the Eternal,' growled Yzak.

'What?' asked Dearka. 'Desert again?'

'It's a ZAFT ship isn't it,' yelled Yzak in response as he and his team engaged the other ZAFT forces.

'Have you dismantled that thing yet?' asked Yzak in his usual tone as he flew towards the Justice.

'Decided to help have you,' yelled Athrun in response.

'Don't make anything of it. I just think the Chairman is crazier than your father. So let's make this quick before the Minerva arrives,' spat Yzak.

Destroying the colony was harder than first thought. Missiles were virtually useless so Kira and Athrun activated the Meteor beam sabres which started to cut through effortlessly. It didn't take long until the relay station started to crumble and explode. The forces that were sent to protect it started to withdraw after their strength hit twenty per cent.

'Time to take out the Requiem now,' said Heero once the first relay station was finished.

'Looks like reinforcements are coming,' said Neo as they looked towards the plants to see the Messiah and the rest of the ZAFT forces being led by the Minerva.

'Let's go Athrun,' said Kira as they disconnected from the Meteor's and flew out to meet Shinn and Rey as they got closer.

The two fleets flew at each other and prepped their weapons. The battle for our future is about to begin…

**It just occurred to me that there are now 5 Gundam's on the "good" team and 2 on the "bad" team, similar to the final battle in Gundam Wing. The final chapter of the Seed Destiny cannon is next with the highly anticipated 00 cannon only a few chapters after that. Please Read and Review.**


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